(The Center Square) – A proposed new vendor contract will save the North Carolina State Lottery at least $110 million over the next decade, providing more money for education, lottery officials said Wednesday.

"That is a conservative estimate" of the savings, Terri Rose, the lottery's chief brand officer told a committee of the North Carolina State Lottery Commission.

The $110 million savings figure is based on no growth at all in scratch-off ticket sales over the next 10 years.

“You guys know that if this lottery has any experience in anything, it’s continuing to grow our sales,” Rose told commission members. “I have a feeling we will be over $3 billion in the near future on scratch tickets.”

In the fiscal year that ended June 30, the state had scratch-off sales of $2.92 billion.

The savings from the new contract will boost the money of money available for educational programs funded by the lottery, officials said.

When negotiating the contract extension with vendor IGT for services and equipment, North Carolina lottery executives researched prices paid by similar-sized states.

“We compared ourselves to our peers,” Rose told the Commission’s Revenue Generating Committee. “We knew that their rates were closer to the rate you see reflected here.”

The growth of the lottery also helped the state obtain a better rate, she added.

“We are a more mature lottery now,” Rose said. “We are a top five lottery in the country. They know what kind of revenue we can drive so that also made it a bit more favorable. More money for education. We are going the right way there.”

Under the new contract, IGT will also “fully refresh” all of the equipment retail locations where lottery tickets are sold. The state will also receive 500 ticket vending machines at no extra cost.

The committee recommended approval of the proposed 10-year contract by the full commission, which meets next week.

Since it was launched in 2006, the North Carolina lottery has raised $10 billion for education in the state, according to the lottery website.

“The money raised by the lottery supports education programs in all of North Carolina’s 100 counties,” the lottery said.