Antioch Confronts $16M Budget Deficit as Council Hires City Attorney, Fills Oversight Vacancies

The Antioch City Council faced a sobering financial picture at its Feb. 10 meeting, learning the city is spending $16.6 million more than it collects in revenue and drawing down reserves to stay afloat. Against that backdrop, the council moved to stabilize key institutions — hiring a permanent city attorney, restoring quorum on the police oversight commission, and adopting a six-month priority framework — even as residents pleaded for warming centers and warned that unlicensed street vendors are eroding the tax base the city desperately needs.

• Mid-year budget reveals $13–16M structural deficit; sales tax declining, 72 city positions vacant, and budget study sessions set for March

• Lori Asuncion hired as permanent city attorney at $288,000 salary ($513,028 total compensation), ending months of interim legal counsel during DOJ oversight

• Two appointed to the police oversight commission, restoring quorum; a third nominee deferred after councilmembers insisted on hearing from candidates in person

• BART station closure looms if Prop 63 fails in November; Antioch's renovated train station could lose service by mid-2027

• Residents demand warming center as parking enforcement displaces vehicle dwellers in winter with no shelter alternative

• $4M in Caltrans funding approved for trash capture devices to begin addressing stormwater non-compliance

The basics: Finance Director Merchant presented Antioch's mid-year general fund update through Dec. 31, 2025: $94.3 million in projected revenues against $110.9 million in expenditures, a gap the city is filling with $5 million from the budget stabilization fund and $11.6 million in appropriated fund balance.