Woman Who Won A Million And Stayed On Assistance Has Died

[Dave]

In a strange and unfortunate story, the woman that had won a million dollars in the state lottery but continued to receive state assistance has died, possibly of a drug overdose. It would be safe to say that once she was exposed for doing what she was doing that her life was probably a bit rough which is unfortunate but is the risk she ran or anyone runs when doing what she did. I suppose in a way its a bit of that old karma thing rearing its ugly head.

Amanda Clayton, the Lincoln Park woman who caused a stir after continuing to take food stamps after winning the state lottery’s $1-million “Make Me Rich!” game show, has died of a possible drug overdose, police said Saturday.

Clayton was found dead by police at about 9 a.m. at a home on Sunnyside Road, said Ecorse Police Sgt. Cornelius Herring.

No further details were released by police, including what she was doing at the home.

Clayton was propelled into the spotlight after a local news outlet learned she had won the game show in September 2011, but continued to take welfare benefits. At the time, she said she was entitled to the payments because she still needed help.

She was charged by Attorney General Bill Schuette for felony welfare fraud, and was sentenced to nine months of probation in late July. She was also ordered to repay the roughly $5,500 in food and medical assistance she received after winning the windfall.

State law requires that anyone with income changes on assistance programs report those changes within 10 days. Clayton was on food assistance from 2010 to 2012, and despite having a job for four months in 2011, she did not report the change to the state, even though it is unclear if that would have affected her eligibility for benefits. Days before her arrest, Gov. Rick Snyder signed a law requiring lottery officials to report winnings to DHS.

http://www.freep.com/article/20120929/NEWS02/120929026/

[XLFD]

Her story was previously brought to our attention by Dave, and continued with Sweater Cows' thread yes-woman-who-won-1m-lotto-should-get-food-stamps 

Her story is just one of many reasons to get the State out of the realm of gambling.  Poor people trying to strike it rich often use too much of their money to do so by buying this State-sanctioned gamble, where the House always wins big in the long run.  If the poor folks win big, they often find themselves in situations like this woman found herself in; it happens all the time. 

Meanwhile, the State winds up effectively putting the money they make into the general fund, not the noble purposes they justify their legalized racketeering with.  Unfortunately, a lot of the taxes and fees that are charged to normal people are other forms of legalized racketeering, so they will stay in this biz unless the people demand it to stop.

[Lisa O'Brien]

If the state uses the money off of the lottery to keep the taxes down, I'm all for it. If the state gets out of the lottery business they will be looking at others ways to maintain the revenue - which means higher taxes.

[XLFD]

I look at the state lottery as more of a tax in itself which inordinately hits the poor, uneducated, and those with gambling proclivities.  I find it repugnant that my state spends about $300,000 on non-prize expenses for these games, a little less than half of its profits. 

I find it ironic that the money generated is supposed to be for schools, where people should be getting the education needed to get themselves better jobs (richer), and learn simple probability principles that show how foolish it is to get a lottery ticket.  If the schools put out well-educated graduates, the lottery would be out of business.

[AQUAMAN]

Just for the record, I looked and compared the 2012 Ludville summer city taxes I paid vs. last year's taxes paid, the amount was up 2.3%, or about $300, with no special assessments or reason. The same applied to all of the last 3 years too, all up 2-4%, with no reason other than a skewed tax system that just keeps getting more and more greedy. Did your tax situation go down every year in NY Lisa, since the state lotto out there came to be? I really doubt it has, please inform us either way, I'm curious, as another state I frequent parts of the year have also found a way to increase and stick it to us, regardless of state lottos, economics, home values, or anything that should decrease them to the locals. Yes, sometimes Karma is at work to calibrate and adjust those that would defy it, comes around, then goes around too.

[Lisa O'Brien]

Nope my taxes never go down out here, but if the state didn't have the lottery I bet they would go up even more. The point I was making is this - Our government once accustomed to a cash flow doesn't just quit spending when that cash flow goes away - it looks for other ways to replace that cash flow and or add to it. They do not do this by cutting their salaries or benefits packages, they do this by raising taxes on citizens or business' and adding fee's and service charges on items that the general population relies on. Whether the lottery system is good or bad, I'm not going to debate. But I know if it went away their hand would be reaching into my pocket to replace the monies.

[AQUAMAN]

Thanks & sorry to hear that Lisa, and I thought so too. You're right, they have an urgency daily to pick our pockets and spend like no tomorrow. While private sector types must restrain severely these days just to get by. Public sector people, so much they need to learn about economics, before it's too late and bites us all.

[CLFD]

Lisa

I have a sister who lives in Scottville and the property tax there is outrageous. If you get an opportunity someday please take the time to drive a few minutes up and down the residental streets. You will notice many homes in desparate need of repair and many more homes with For Sale signs out front. Basically the town has taxed itself almost into bankruptcy and extinction. It is a shame too because Scottville is a quaint little town that should be doing much better.

[XLFD]

Totally agree, CLFD.  And I would add there is not a lot of bang for the buck in the public monies. 

I know of several people that have moved out, and many more talking of moving out, of Scottville primarily because of the tax rate.  Getting rid of the City Manager and everything concerning their DDA and Main Street programs would be a good start in correcting the problem, but its not going to happen without public unrest. 

And the unrest is just causing them to move out now to surrounding areas or out of the county; those areas hopefully will learn a lesson from Scottville. 

[XLFD]

The Scottville bump-outs came shortly after Ludington's own Community Development Dissector Heather Venzke was hired on there for a chance to mess that city up further.  And just a bit before Mayor John Henderson proposed the idea for Ludington outdoor-seating-for-downtown-restaurants. 

I haven't been down south Main Street in a car since these bump outs went in, so if you (or someone in that area) could take some pictures and give a short explanation to illustrate that point, I think it would be illustrative of what Ludington might experience, Johanna. 

 

[Lisa O'Brien]

I always drive through Scottville when I'm in town visiting, it sure is far cry from what it used to be when I was a kid. I'm not sure what the property tax is in Scottville, but I have a farm in Mason county and I think my property taxes on it are rather steep since I enjoy no amenities offered by the county or state. My house downstate has cheaper property taxes but there I at least have garbage pick up. My water bills are obnoxious since it comes from Detroit and they keep raising rates - because they have mismanaged their money for years.

[XLFD]

The rates for non-homesteaders are steep in the county, few being below 4%, the difference between that and homesteaders is about 1.6% no matter where you are here.

Without giving away your location Lisa you can use this neat page provided by the Mi Treasury Dept.  Prop. Tax Estimator to compare the places in Mason County (or any other MI county) for tax burdens.  If you enter an SEV of $10,000 you actually get the millage rate when using this calculator after you enter your township/town and school district. 

City of Scottville is the most expensive, at a rate of 47.66 mills for a homesteader, whereas the smallest I found was nearby Riverton Twp.-Pentwater SD at 20.31, that's quite a difference, and you even get a longer bus ride with the latter.  The old methods of getting revenues just won't work if you have a ghost town filled with foreclosed houses.

[Guidothesemipsuedocaptitalistpig]

Now hmmm.. If Scottville lowered its taxes say to lower than Ludington there are a few businesses who may just consider moving to the lower rent district if the tax lowering was not just a 5 year temp reduction.

The cities who try to do the temp reduction to get you to move learn it doesn't work as once the rate goes up the reason for doing business in your area goes away. But wait.. that's a Conservative thought and by the sight of the center for social justice sign I used to see on the main drag Scotville may be too liberal to follow a winning idea like creating a good jobs climate ehh?