The winner of last week's Mega Millions jackpot has yet to come forward to claim the cool $52 million prize, Ohio Lottery officials said Monday.
But a Miami County man who matched all winning numbers except the Mega Ball has come forward to collect the $175,000 consolation prize, said Marie Kilbane Seckers, a spokeswoman for the Ohio Lottery Commission.
Friday's jackpot brings to three the number of Mega Million jackpot winners in Ohio, which provides about 10 percent of the multi-state lottery's ticket sales.
The first winner was Rebecca Jemison of South Euclid, who won the $162 million jackpot Dec. 30, 2003. Eric Maxwell of Dayton won $20 million in the March 2 Mega Millions drawing.
There have been 34 Mega Millions jackpot winners in the 11 participating states since the game started in May 2002, Kilbane Seckers said.
New York leads the states with eight Mega Millions jackpot winners, followed by Georgia with five and Ohio and five other states with three winners each, Kilbane Seckers said.
Shaker Heights, meanwhile, is waiting for the winner to step forward so that it can tap in. Shaker could receive nearly $1 million in income tax.
The $52 million Mega Millions ticket was purchased Friday at Shaker Quality Foods, a convenience store on Lee Road.
Shaker Heights made sure it would cash in on any winning ticket sold within city limits. South Euclid found itself in a painful position in January when it missed out on collecting about $1.4 million in income taxes because it had failed to update its tax laws to include lottery winnings as taxable income.
South Euclid had failed to act on a 1996 letter from the Regional Income Tax Agency advising the city to amend its charter so it could tax lottery winnings.
William Gruber of the Shaker Heights Law Department said the amendment says that earnings from the lottery or other games of chance are taxable income for nonresidents and residents of Shaker Heights.
Gruber said Shaker Heights residents must pay income tax on earnings from lottery or other games of chance in excess of $600 regardless of where the money is won - be it Las Vegas, California or New Jersey.
"Some officials in Shaker realized our tax law (before January) would put us in the same position South Euclid was in," Gruber said. "They wanted to make it absolutely clear that the intent was to tax such earnings."
Since Friday, lottery ticket buyers have been flocking to the store in hopes that luck is still in the air, said Abe Hamed, manager of Shaker Quality Foods. The winning numbers were 12, 17, 34, 37, 39, and the Mega Ball was 34. The winner has 180 days to come forward with the ticket.
"We are seeing a lot of people who we haven't seen for a while and a lot of new faces," Hamed said.
Shaker Heights made sure it would cash in on any winning ticket sold within city limits.
That's good to know, if I'm ever in the Cleveland area and haven't purchased my lottery tickets, I'll make sure I'm not in Shaker Height if I feel the need to buy some. I've been running over to Indiana when the PowerBall jackpot is over $100M, maybe I should check the local tax laws of New Haven where I've been buying those tickets.
I dont think there are to many cities in ohio that have not changed their tax charter since the south euclid fiasco......and i only count 33 winners in megamillions including the one multiple winner where the same guy bought two tickets
Shaker Heights made sure it would cash in on any winning ticket sold within city limits.
That's good to know, if I'm ever in the Cleveland area and haven't purchased my lottery tickets, I'll make sure I'm not in Shaker Height if I feel the need to buy some. I've been running over to Indiana when the PowerBall jackpot is over $100M, maybe I should check the local tax laws of New Haven where I've been buying those tickets.
RJOh
Cool someone in western ohio (miami valley) Won 175K!
I dont think there are to many cities in ohio that have not changed their tax charter since the south euclid fiasco......and i only count 33 winners in megamillions including the one multiple winner where the same guy bought two tickets
AFAIK the cash/annuity choice in Ohio is effective once the ticket is claimed, instead of the first 60 days after the drawing.