The Adobe Flash Player is required to view this multimedia interactive. Get it here.

Don’t fret: Rainy day fund can still buy 3 gumballs

Budget ills invite debate over cuts, taxes

Newly formed arts alliance receives more than $1 million
7:54 a.m.
Kettering School Board moves forward to fire Brian Donoher
6:35 a.m.
Larger cuts expected if Carlisle fails to pass levy
2/15/12
Carlisle looking for EMS answers
2/15/12
Prisoners with gang links to be isolated
2/14/12
> More headlines

By Jessica Wehrman and Laura A. Bischoff, Staff Writers 9:05 PM Saturday, July 11, 2009

The state of Ohio has a mere 89 cents left in its rainy day fund.

Three quarters, a dime and four pennies.

That’s all, folks. The fund, the state’s emergency piggy bank account, was drained of about $1 billion to finish off the last fiscal year when tax revenues took a nose dive in the bad economy.

With a fund so puny, you can’t buy a song off iTunes. You can’t buy a cup of coffee from Starbucks, a ride on a public bus in Dayton or even anything off the dollar menu at McDonald’s.

But let’s focus on the positive.

Here’s what 89 cents will buy you: Two first class stamps, a can of pop (not one of those larger plastic bottles), a third of a gallon of gas, three gumballs, a Taco Bell chicken taco or a nano-second of payroll for the state’s 60,000 employees.

You could also buy 89 rides on the penny pony children’s ride at Meijer. That might be one of the best bargains around.

Eight-nine cents would also buy a 1.7 ounce pack of M&M’s, which contains 55 pieces. That means each piece would have to be shared by 207,273 Ohioans.

What 89 cents won’t buy is budget peace of mind.

For that, you’ll need something stronger than that can of pop.

Share this article