The recent installation of video lottery terminals has apparently increased revenues for the Oregon Lottery.
Economists from the Office of Economic Analysis testifying before Oregon legislators in Salem last week attributed the increase to new machines attracting more players and more money.
They pointed to a graph that showed that lottery revenues began rising about the same time that new machines were deployed and apparently reached an equilibrium when there were two machines in every lottery venue.
They wrote, “Even in some of Oregon’s hardest hit counties, those that have yet to fully partake in the economic recovery, growth in video lottery sales is roughly 10 percent over the past year, following the roll-out of the new terminals.”
They project that the state will collect about $1.2 billion in the next two-year budget period. The lottery generates about 6 percent of the state’s revenue.
