Remedy For Sag In Lotto Sales? Payoff Twist

Faced with declining sales of Lotto tickets, the state Lottery Commission is preparing to take a chance by offering players the opportunity to double their winnings for $1.

The new “double Lotto” game was announced Wednesday during a meeting of the state Economic and Revenue Forecast Council, which issued a report describing solid growth in Washington’s economy.

Increased hiring in the aerospace industry, a strong housing market and higher tax collections prompted Chang Mook Sohn, the state’s chief economist, to boost revenue projections by $174.1 million through 1999.

In his quarterly revenue projection, Sohn put anticipated general-fund income for the current two-year budget cycle at $17.467 billion - about $100 million more than the last projection - with about $515 million in reserves.

The projection for the 1997-99 biennium is $19.176 billion.

Lottery revenues, however, are running about $30 million below the $167 million that was projected.