CHICAGO -- An Ohio state representative is asking the state to appropriate $6.7 million from its rainy-day fund for the struggling city of East Cleveland.
State Rep. Kent Smith, D-Euclid, says the Cleveland suburb is on track to go broke without help from the state.
"It's not just raining in East Cleveland, it's pouring, and the rain is so bad, the materials for the ark have floated away," Smith told local reporters.
The city has no outstanding bond debt. The money would be used for basic operations and public safety, Smith said.
The $6.7 million represents the amount of state aid the city has lost due to local government aid cuts since 2008, according to Smith.
"Some cities could absorb those cuts and some cities could go to the voters," Smith told a local radio station. "Then there are communities that don't have that much tax base and they don't have much choice but just to start decimating their city services. And East Cleveland is an example of that."
State Auditor David Yost declared the city, which is in Cuyahoga County, to be in a financial emergency in late 2013.
Mayor Gary Norton has also proposed the city merge with Cleveland.
