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Colorado Lottery Fund May Face Changes

COLORADO – As reported by the Denver Post: "Two powerful Colorado legislators said they will push for changes in the state's management of the Conservation Trust Fund, a $43 million pot of lottery profits that is supposed to pay for parks and recreation.

"Meanwhile, the state auditor said Tuesday that she is moving forward with an audit of the fund. The auditor, Joanne Hill, may propose additional changes as early as January. Stories in The Denver Post on Nov. 9 and 10 outlined how the two chief pools of lottery profits that voters said must be used to preserve the state's natural beauty may have been wrongly tapped.

"One report highlighted how Great Outdoors Colorado funds are increasingly being used to subsidize salaries rather than the open- space acquisitions voters approved more than a decade ago. The other showed how the Conservation Trust Fund operates with very little oversight.

"…Sen. Norma Anderson, the Senate majority leader and a Republican from Lakewood, said she would support a plan to end commingling other moneys in local conservation trust funds. That way, it would be easy for auditors to spot misspending and alert the local governments that they are off course.

"…Sen. Ron Tupa, a Boulder Democrat who serves as the chairman of the audit committee, said he believes the rules over spending can be tightened without tinkering with the constitution…"

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