SAN ANTONIO — The Powerball had another one-billion dollar plus jackpot winner this month. KENS 5 viewer Bill Debner says he thinks the actually cash payout has actually gotten smaller over the last several years.
"Before every drawing for Powerball Mega millions, groups of lottery directors get together. They go over sales and the interest rates leading up to the drawing. So with those figures, they determine the cash value and the annuitized amount," Helm said. On the Usamega.com website for this past Oct. 4th drawing, the estimated annuitized jackpot was $1.2 billion, with a cash option of $551,700,000 million, which is about 46 percent of the annuitized amount. Two years ago, also on October 4th, the annuitized jackpot was $699,800,000 with a cash option of $496,000,000, a much higher 70 percent of the annuitized amount.