(left to right) Carrold Ray, Bruce Engstrom, Sam Hilburn (photo courtesy Ark Lottery Commission)LITTLE ROCK - The Arkansas Lottery Commission's 2011 tax penalties have been reversed, thanks to the pro-bono efforts of a North Little Rock attorney.
After hearing the Lottery had been assessed federal tax penalties in 2011, Carrold E. Ray, Jr., volunteered his time to help. He explained that his
two daughters were recipients of the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery-funded
Arkansas Academic Challenge Scholarships, so he wanted to give back to
an agency that was helping his family.
At the Monday meeting of the Arkansas Lottery Commission,
Chairman Ben Pickard of Searcy recognized Ray and announced that his work
had led to an agreement with the Internal Revenue Service
to refund $104,570 to the Lottery next month.
"We are grateful for Mr. Ray's generous sacrifice of his
time and effort, and for his excellent work, pro bono, in behalf of the
Arkansas Scholarship Lottery. We could not have accomplished a successful
outcome without him," said Pickard. "Not only did the agency avoid what
would have been prohibitive legal fees to deal with this complicated IRS
matter, the students of Arkansas will soon realize about $100,000 in their
scholarship fund that would not have returned without Mr. Ray's expertise
and his 18-month conversation with the IRS in pursuit of this positive
solution."
