What do you do when your rainy day fund is in a drought? Raid it anyway.
That was the decision of the Miami City Commission on Thursday when they unanimously voted to take $53.6 million from the city's reserve to plug the huge hole in the city's budget.
That move leaves the piggy bank with about $39 million left and the strong possibility Miami will be out of money by the year's end. City Attorney Julie Bru warned the commission that if the rainy day fund gets any lower, she'll have to make a call to Gov. Charlie Crist.
If a call to Daddy Crist doesn't scare the commission straight, what will?
But before that happens, the commission might want to try the "Make It Rain" dance to conjure up some cash.
"At this point we're just hoping and praying, and hopefully the right gods will listen to us,'' City Manager Carlos Migoya told the Miami Herald.
The city is already $28 million in the red for 2010 and the hole is likely to get bigger. Any worse and we have a bonafied state of fiscal emergency.
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Enter Crist and the paddle.
Mayor Tomas Regalado is expected to give full details on Miami's financial shape at the State of the City address today at noon.
And just maybe we'll get to see that dance.
