August 23rd, 2010
ACC board officially calls election in San Marcos, Hays school districts

STAFF REPORT

The Austin Community College District board of trustees on Friday officially called an annexation election in five Central Texas communities including the Hays and San Marcos school districts.

Voters will also go to the polls in the Bastrop, Elgin and McDade school districts on Nov. 2. Early voting runs Oct. 18-29. In San Marcos, ACCess San Marcos collected 2,174; in Hays, the North Hays ACC Steering Committee collected about 1,900.

Steering committees composed of residents from within each school district’s boundaries collected signatures from at least five percent of local, registered voters in order for the annexation election to take place, per Texas Education Code.

The college has published individual Service Plans for each area (services and programs ACC will bring to the community) and held public hearings.

If the measure passes, homeowners would pay a property tax proposed at $0.0951 per $100 valuation for the coming fiscal year. The total tax rate includes a maintenance and operations rate of nine cents, which cannot be increased without voter approval. The remainder of the amount ($0.0051) goes toward debt service on facilities bonds.

he college offers a standard $5,000 homestead exemption, and senior citizens and homeowners with disabilities receive an additional $105,000 exemption, for a total exemption of $110,000 – the most generous in the region.

In exchange for paying the property tax, district residents have access to more comprehensive programs and services as well as much lower in-district tuition of $42 per credit hour, compared with $150 per hour for out-of-district students. ACC’s Master Plan, approved by the governing board, calls for campuses to be constructed in Bastrop, Elgin, the Buda/Kyle area, and San Marcos, subject to successful annexation elections. The college has entered into contracts for the purchase of land in each of those communities.

For more information on annexation and to see each community’s Service Plan, please visit austincc.edu/annexation.