The Pennsylvania Lottery has posted a record year, spurred on by scratch-offs and record jackpots in big-ticket drawings like Powerball and Mega Millions.
 
Lottery officials say ticket sales rose $273-million in the 2011-12 fiscal year to $3.48-billion, an 8.5-percent increase over the previous year. Revenue to the fund used to benefit senior citizen programs was $1.06-billion, more than 10-percent better than last year and 8.7-percent more than the previous record set in 2005-06.
 
Officials said Monday Powerball and Mega Millions combined for $88.5-million more in sales over the previous year, while scratch-offs rose 11-percent to $212.5-million.