Grass will always grow, and the sun will always rise, but the sustainability of some so-called “recession-proof” industries – sex, booze and gambling – are withering amidst cloudy economic conditions.
For example, Larry Flynt and Joe Francis of “Girls Gone Wild” requested a Congressional bailout of the adult-film industry.
And alcohol sales, specificaly beer, have declined since 2008, according to a national study by the American Journal of Medicine.
But the most apparent issue facing students is the downtrend of public gaming sales in Florida – a recurring source of revenue for public schools and universities throughout the state.
The Florida Lottery recently reported a 12-percent drop in ticket sales from the same time last year, while UNF has increased its dependance on the revenue source, according to UNF budget reports.
As Floridian unemployment rose from 7 percent in October to 7.3 percent in November, the lottery inversely declined as discretionary spending was curtailed, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
Lottery revenues showed a $53 million increase from October 2008 to December 2008, considerably lower than the $80 million increase reported for the same time in 2007.
And December 2008’s high of $353,859,510 was down $47.5 million from December 2007.
But the introduction of the multi-state Powerball game to Florida this month is expected to increase revenue sales, said Amanda Marquardt, public affairs specialist for the Florida Lottery.
“How much will the new game bring to colleges? It’s not certain, but it’s a lot,” Marquardt said. “First sales of the game totaled more than $7 million. That’s more than $3 million for education in the first drawing.”
Since 1988, the Florida Lottery has funded more than $19 billion to education.
During tough economic times, state universities have increasingly depended on lottery revenue – a source of funding meant to be used as a supplemental.
After operational costs, 40 percent of lottery funds are allocated to education, and the 2004-2005 Lottery Trust Fund contributed $4.2 million to UNF’s Education & General budget – 2.1 percent of its overall budget.
Fast forward four years to the 2008-2009 budget, and the Lottery Trust Fund contributed $10.4 million to the E&G budget – 5 percent of the overall budget.
UNF conservatively planned the allocation of the Lottery Trust Fund by budgeting $1.7 million of the additional $2.5 million increase over last year’s funding.
The remaining $800,000 will be budgeted as a non-recurring fund, said Shari Shuman, UNF vice president of Administration and Finance.
However, she said the fund, which was intended to be a supplemental source of revenue, has become recurring and a static source of budgetary revenue for the school; increasing as general revenue has gone down.
E-mail Jonathan Morales and James Cannon II at news@unfspinnaker.com.
