City of Antioch provides status report on use of Measure C funds
The City of Antioch has released a Status Report on the use of funds the City has received from Measure C, the half-cent sales tax passed by Antioch voters a year ago on November 5th. The Status Report is being mailed to all Antioch residents and a summary will be presented to the City Council by staff at the October 28th City Council Meeting.
Collection of Measure C funds began in April of 2014 and, as of October 15th, $1,706,336 of Measure C funds have been received. The Measure C Citizens Oversight Committee has been meeting regularly with the City’s Finance Director to ensure that Measure C funds are being spent as promised. Measure C sunsets in seven years.
City Manager Steve Duran said “Measure C has been a Godsend for the City of Antioch’s efforts to have a safer and cleaner community.” With approval of the 2014/15 budget, the Antioch City Council directed 100% of the projected $4,300,847 Measure C annual revenues to hiring and equipping more Police Officers, which is well in progress, and augmenting Code Enforcement services. The City allocated $4,111,947 to the Police Department and $188,900 to Code Enforcement for Fiscal year 2014-2015.
Antioch Police Chief Allan Cantando noted “The passage of Measure C in November 2013 has enabled the Antioch Police Department to significantly increase our staffing and effectiveness. This is only possible because Measure C was passed by the citizens of Antioch.” Since October 31, 2013, the Antioch Police Department has expanded from 97 employees to 116 employees, a net increase of 19.6% (as of October 13, 2014). Sworn Personnel increased from 76 to 91, a net increase of 19.7%, in the same time period. Chief Cantando further stated “Our goal is to reach 97 sworn personnel by June 30, 2015 and 104 sworn personnel by June 30, 2016. That’s an increase of 28 sworn officers. We plan to bring on five new Police Officers in November, so we are well on our way to reaching our staffing goals.” Antioch’s crime statistics through September 30, 2014, show a 9.8% reduction in violent crime when compared to the same period last year.
Mayor Wade Harper stated “There has been a lot of misinformation being spread around about what the City is doing with the funds from Measure C, so it’s nice to have the indisputable facts in this Status Report that clearly demonstrate my colleagues and I have kept the promises we made to the community.”