$207M lottery winners work for Ohio city

PIQUA, Ohio — Mayor Thomas Hudson thinks there soon will be openings in the street department.

A group of city workers who won the $207 million Mega Millions jackpot on Friday have 180 days to come forward and claim their prize and then decide whether to keep their day jobs.

The 16 city employees include 14 from the street department who pooled their money to buy the winning ticket, City Manager Fred Enderle said. All showed up for work Monday.

They were jubilant, but some had mixed emotions, he said.

“They were excited, but some said it hadn’t sunk in yet and that trying to decide how to handle everything was causing a lot of anxiety,” Enderle said. “I met with everyone and told them to take a couple of days off to think about what they want to do.”

Enderle wouldn’t identify the workers, who have asked to remain anonymous for now.

He said some had said they wanted to come back to work.

“If they want to move on, we understand that too,” he said.

Mega Millions is played in 12 states, including Georgia, with drawings on Tuesday and Friday nights.

Piqua, a city of 20,500 residents about 25 miles north of Dayton, has 20 employees in its street department, but Enderle said other workers could be switched on a temporary basis to any positions that come open until permanent replacements were found.

He declined to identify the departments where the other two winners work, saying it would be more difficult to maintain their anonymity.

“I just don’t know what to expect until folks tell me what they want to do,” he said.

The employees have been pooling their money for about five years, although not everyone participated in every drawing, Enderle said.

“I’m sure everyone was happy for the group, but some folks probably will have to deal with feelings of being left behind because they didn’t put money in that one,” he said.

At least some of the winners have contacted a lawyer.

Attorney John Hemm said he started receiving phone calls from several of the winners soon after he heard the winning ticket was sold in Piqua. They will need to decide how to claim the ticket and have their financial arrangements in order before going to the Ohio Lottery Commission, he said.

“These people need information,” said Hemm, who is trying to get a team together to help the winners with their planning.

Hemm said he hopes to know by mid- to late-week when and if the winners will comment publicly.

Some winners set up a trust to claim jackpots while keeping their identities from being disclosed.

Lottery spokeswoman Sandra Neal said the winner must decide whether to accept a one-time cash payoff of $142.7 million or take $207 million in 26 annual payments of $7.9 million.

“If it’s a group, they all have to agree on the type of payment,” she said.

The winning numbers were 10, 16, 19, 27 and 48, with the Mega Ball being 25.

The winning ticket was sold at a Kroger supermarket, where store officials said the $100,000 received from the lottery for selling the winning ticket will be donated to local charities.

The record jackpot for the Mega Millions game was $390 million in March 2007 with winners in Georgia and New Jersey, Neal said.