{"id":2692,"date":"2015-01-21T18:31:40","date_gmt":"2015-01-21T18:31:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.theaccent.org\/?p=2692"},"modified":"2015-01-21T18:31:40","modified_gmt":"2015-01-21T18:31:40","slug":"community-college-bond-under-vote-in-november-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/community-college-bond-under-vote-in-november-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Community College Bond Under Vote in November"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Story by Dillon Fleharty<\/p>\n

Voters will decide in November whether Austin Community College will receive roughly $386 million to build new facilities and renovate existing ones.<\/p>\n

The Bond package is divided into two propositions: one is focused on the planning and construction of future growth, while the second is focused on funding existing growth, health and safety issues and sustainability. The propositions, totaling around $386 million, would increase the property tax rate by two cents, meaning homes valued at $200,000 would see an increase of $39 per year after the standard homestead exemption. However, seniors and homeowners with disabilities would only see an increase of $16.<\/p>\n

Trustees are also calling on voters to incrementally increase the college\u2019s property tax cap to help stabilize tuition costs, cover deferred maintenance and expand veteran and adult learning programs. If passed, it will only be the second time a tax cap has increased in ACC\u2019s 41 years.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Board chair Jeffrey Richard said in a news release, \u201cThis proposal takes into account the impact on the public and allows us to ensure a pipeline of skilled workers throughout the region for the jobs of today and tomorrow, while keeping college affordable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ballot will include:<\/p>\n

Proposition 1 – Planned Growth and Workforce Advancement<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 Highland campus – creating space for digital media, commercial music, continuing education culinary careers and other creative media<\/p>\n

\u2022 Leander campus – planned for growth in the northwest<\/p>\n

\u2022 Land banking for the Southeast Travis County Workforce Training Center<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Proposition 1 total: $224.8 million<\/em><\/p>\n

Proposition 2 – Existing Campus Growth, Safety, Technology and Sustainability<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022District wide renovations – health, safety and sustainability<\/p>\n

\u2022Renovations to career training programs facilities after relocations to Highland Campus<\/p>\n

\u2022Hays Campus – First Responders Training Center<\/p>\n

\u2022Elgin Campus – Veterinary and sustainable agriculture programs<\/p>\n

Proposition 2 total: $161.17 million<\/em><\/p>\n

Maintenance and Operations Tax Cap<\/strong><\/p>\n

The ACC maintenance tax cap would increase one cent in fiscal years 2016, 2018 and 2020. The current maintenance and operations tax rate is $0.09 per $100 valuation. The total tax impact is estimated to be five cents if all three measures are approved. In addition, school administrators will begin budgeting for a tuition freeze over the next four fiscal years. While ACC\u2019s enrollment was 38,611 this past fall, it is down from 40,159 of last year. However, officials project an average annual increase of three percent as the region\u2019s population continues to grow.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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ACC\u2019s taxing district includes the city of Austin along with school districts of Leander, Hays, Elgin, Round Rock, Del Valle and Manor.<\/p>\n

Each ACC campus will hold information sessions on the bond.<\/p>\n

For more information visit austincc. edu\/bond
\nAnd for a list of information sessions vist http:\/\/bit.ly\/1viaDNz<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Story by Dillon Fleharty Voters will decide in November whether Austin Community College will receive roughly $386 million to build new facilities and renovate existing ones. The Bond package is divided into two propositions: one is focused on the planning and construction of future growth, while the second is focused on funding existing growth, health […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4015,"featured_media":2389,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[31,41,101,211],"class_list":["post-2692","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-2014-bond-election","tag-acc-bond","tag-austin-community-college-bond","tag-dillon-fleharty"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2692","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4015"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2692"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2692\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2692"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2692"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.austincc.edu\/accent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2692"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}