December 2nd, 2009
Hays CISD starts ACC annexation drive

STAFF REPORT

Residents in the Hays CISD have begun the process of gathering petition signatures from area voters with an eye on putting the school district into the Austin Community College (ACC) District on the November 2010 ballot.

Organizers need 2,000 signatures by April 2, 2010, to go on the ballot. If Hays CISD enters the ACC district, property owners would pay 9.5 cents per $100 of taxable property value and Hays CISD residents would receive the in-district tuition of $39 per hour, rather than the present out-of-district rate of $137 per hour.

Vince Collier, co-chair of the Northern Hays County Steering Committee, which is organizing the drive, said ACC has agreed to build a campus in the Buda-Kyle area if the annexation passes. ACC already is banking land for the project.

Any registered voter in Hays CISD is eligible to sign the petition, which would only put the matter of ACC annexation to a vote of Hays CISD voters.

The committee said it will station volunteers in front of the Carrington House on Main Street in Buda on Dec. 5-6, the two days of BudaFest, to answer questions and collect signatures.

Next Monday, Dec. 7, the North Hays County Steering Committee will ask the Hays CISD Board of Trustees for a resolution in support of the annexation and campus construction. The following Monday,Dec. 14, the North Hays County Steering Committee will make a formal request for annexation before the ACC Board of Trustees. Presentations will be made by Collier, committee co-chair Terry Mazurek of Buda and Hays County Precinct 2 Commissioner Jeff Barton (D-Kyle).