A recent, annual financial audit found that lottery ticket sales surged last year and payments to North Carolina's public schools decreased.
Boliek said the performance audit is about making sure North Carolina taxpayers are getting their return on investment from the lottery.
"When you look at those numbers in black and white, $1.2 billion in additional revenue and $20 million less year over year, contributing to public education. It begs the serious questions," he said.
Boliek said it's the first performance audit of the NCEL in more than 15 years and that the recent trends in payment transfers to public schools warrant a closer look.
"It's past time for a performance audit to be completed by the North Carolina State Auditor's Office. So that's what we're doing," he said.
According to the OSA, in 2024, the lottery reported total annual revenue of $5.4 billion, with $1.07 transferred to North Carolina's Education Lottery Fund. In 2025, revenue rose to $6.6 billion, however, the amount for public schools fell by $20 million to $1.05 billion.
"The public deserves specific answers as to exactly why the lottery has been able to generate that much more money. Yet they have contributed year over year less to public education," Boliek said.
In a letter, lottery officials blamed the decline in the share of revenue transferred on players buying fewer high-margin jackpot tickets and playing more low-margin digital games, decreasing their overall profits.
"The NCEL experienced success with digital instant games as it dealt with an unexpected downturn in traditional higher margin games. This led to a lower profit margin in fiscal year 2025," that letter said.
North Carolina state law requires that all net proceeds from the state lottery go toward education, including any prior year surplus. Historically, that has meant about 30% of the lottery's revenue goes towards public education -- according to the state Department of Public Instruction's website.
ABC11 reached out to the NCEL and the DPI on Tuesday.
Adam Owens sent this statement on behalf of the NCEL:
"The independent firm commissioned by the Office of State Auditor to review the North Carolina Education Lottery, Cherry Bekaert, returned an "unmodified opinion"- the highest possible level in the annual financial audit of the lottery. The N.C. Education Lottery has received the highest rating possible in each of the 20 financial audits conducted since its existence.
The N.C. Education Lottery is working to share any information with the Office of State Auditor that it requests as it conducts a performance audit. The auditor regularly does performance audits of state agencies. In addition to the state's auditor's review, the N.C. Education Lottery also undergoes a performance audit every two years by third-party independent auditors. In its most recent performance audit, the auditor found that the lottery's overall performance remains strong and noted it was the only U.S. lottery to report sales growth every year of its operations. "This consistent growth reflects effective product innovation, strategic marketing and sales efforts, and efficient operations," according to the June 2025 report.
Financial conditions in FY25 posed challenges for all lotteries across the country. An article from the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries details issues that impacted lottery sales and how the N.C. Education Lottery experienced the smallest decrease among peer lotteries, largely due to its decision to expand its game portfolio to include Digital Instants."
You can view that article here: A Challenging Year, With an Asterisk.