The Texas Lottery Commission (TLC) has announced the closure of five claim centers located in San Angelo, Wichita Falls, Sherman, Bryan and Waco to be effective January 30, 2004. In addition to the closures, there will be a reduction of 2 Full Time Employees (FTEs), one in the Tyler center and the other in San Antonio.
"This type of decision is never easy to make, yet sometimes must be made given the circumstances, stated Texas Lottery Commission Deputy Executive Director Gary Grief. As with other state agencies, the Lottery Commission was impacted in the last Legislative Session by budget cuts that were made across the board in state government. These changes are being made mainly in response to those cuts."
Claim centers have the authority to pay winning lottery tickets up to and including $999,999, while winning tickets with a value of less than $600 may be redeemed by the 16,000-plus TLC retailers. Larger amounts must be claimed at the TLC headquarters in Austin, Texas. Players living in the area affected by these closures can still visit one of 16 other claim centers located throughout the state, or log on to www.txlottery.org and download a winners claim form.
Letters stating the commissions decision were delivered to affected claim centers and personnel on the 30th and 31st of October, 2003. TLC employees impacted by the closures or the Reduction in Force (RIF), who meet the minimum qualifications for a vacant TLC position, will be given preferential treatment if the job posting is up to and including the impacted employees classified pay group. The affected employee will be interviewed before those applicants not affected by the TLC RIF.
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