Home Key Homeless Housing Decision Delayed as Antioch Wrestles With Budget Crisis

The Antioch City Council spent more than five hours Tuesday night debating how to spend money it doesn't have — on homeless housing, ethical investments, and affordable apartments — before quietly adopting a budget near midnight that projects a $15 million shortfall next year. The marathon session laid bare a city caught between state mandates, community demands, and a general fund that barely grew $300,000 in two years.

• $34.9M Home Key homeless housing award tabled to July 28 after two hours of debate; study session set for June 29 to resolve unanswered financial and legal questions
• Ethical investment working group created targeting Caterpillar, Chevron, and Lockheed Martin after 11 speakers demanded divestment from companies linked to Palestinian destruction
• $50M Hillcrest affordable housing bonds approved 5-0 after previously failing 2-2; council members said state pressure left them no choice
• Mothers and survivors of police violence pleaded to fund the Angelo Quinto Community Response Team amid looming budget cuts
• FY 2026-27 budget adopted 5-0 after midnight with $5M reserve draw and a projected $14.5M+ deficit next fiscal year

The biggest fight of the night — running past 11 p.m. — was whether Antioch should accept roughly $34.9 million in state Home Key Plus funding to convert the former Comfort Inn into 84 permanent supportive housing units for unhoused residents. The council punted the decision unanimously, scheduling a study session for June 29 at 6 p.m. and pushing the final vote to July 28.