Bottle bill money, where does it go? Your Stories Q&A
Last Update: 10/15 6:26 pm
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Syracuse (WSYR-TV) - We'll start with the new source of revenue, thanks to the so-called, "Bigger, Better, Bottle Bill." Robert gale e-mailed us at Your Stories, asking "what happens to all those 5-cent deposits on unreturned bottles and cans?" Well, until now, the beverage distributors kept all those unclaimed nickels. But under the law, now...the distributors will keep just 20% of those unclaimed deposits. The State General Fund gets the other 80%. A spokesperson for the State DEC says the state's share is estimated to be more than $100 million in the next fiscal year. That estimate includes a projection for a certain number of bottled water deposits that are not redeemed. The state hasn't been able to start collecting the deposit on water, because of court challenges. The two sides are expected back in court on that, next week. Also, Karen from Manlius asked if all the billions we spend on lottery tickets is really going to school aid, as intended. The lottery division is quick to give us hard numbers because they get this question all the time. In the last fiscal year, we're told, net proceeds to education totaled 2.5 billion dollars. That's 31% of all lottery revenue. Where does the rest of it go? 60% gets paid out in prize money. 6% goes to retail and commissions, just under 2% to vendors and another 1.8% to operating costs.
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