Lottery winners donate to town projects


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New York (CNN) -- After winning half of a staggering $587 million Powerball payout in November (netted to $136.5 million after taxes) Mark and Cindy Hill of Dearborn, Missouri, had unlimited options.

They could have decided to travel the world, fill their garage with sports cars, or even buy their own island -- fantasies most people entertain when dreaming of a big win.

But the couple chose to stay put in Dearborn. Mark still meets friends daily for coffee at a local convenience store. And although he considered buying a Camaro after his win, Mark opted for a pickup.

In fact, what the Hills have elected to do with their windfall is far from island buying -- which brings us back to the sewage treatment plant.

It's one of many civic projects the Hills have decided to fund for their local community, and specifically Mark's hometown of Camden Point, Missouri -- a small enclave comprising fewer than 500 residents. They'll pay for a new fire station and a new ball field. They'll also donate $50,000 towards the sewage treatment plant.

The fire station will have direct access to highways, and the ball field will be set further away from one -- allowing the kids to play out of the range of traffic. As for the sewage treatment plant, that will enable residents to do away with personal septic tanks.

Walt Stubbs, Camden Point fire chief, says not only will the new location give the fire department better access to the community, but it will help integrate the local ambulance district with the fire station, improving emergency response times.

The Hills also donated a scholarship fund to nearby North Platte High School in Dearborn, where both graduated.

City officials estimated these works would have taken around 25 years to complete if the city had to rely on its existing tax base. Stubbs concurs with this figure -- and says the changes they're now able to make weren't even in their 5 or 10 year plans.

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From $587 million to $136.5 million after taxes?! :s

It states they netted half of the $587, so that would be $293.50 before taxes, they still lost out on a good 100 mil though.

Good on them for doing this, it's a great way to put back into the community, most people would take the money and make themselves happy. By doing this, they're making everyone in the community happy.

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From $587 million to $136.5 million after taxes?! :s

587 would've been the annuity option. The lump sum (aka the amount the lottery actually collected for the jackpot) probably wasn't far over 200 million, so taxed at the top bracket, they would only have taken home 136.

Anyways, good on them for doing those things :)

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They won 1/2 of it as it was shared with someone else (or was it 2 other people I thought?).

So in any case yes it's stll a lot of freaking taxes! If it was say $500M the govt takes like $250M in whatever... lol don't even know what that is. Then you pay an "income tax" because you got all this money which is probably like $40-60M then they end up with about $200M after it's all said and done. :blink:

I've always said the govt is the biggest crooks ever, they don't rob you of the money you have in your pocket, they even rob your future money!

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Title is misleading, $50,000 won't buy a sewage treatment plant... it likely wouldn't even pay for the concrete needed just to build the holding areas. A standard sewage treatment plant can run between 1 to 25 million, depending on how much it is designated to treat..

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