By Andy Sevilla
The Austin Community College Hays campus could get a regional first-responders training center in Kyle if voters approve a $161 million proposition in the November ballot.
ACC is holding its second bond election in the college’s 41-year history.
The $386 million bond package is broken down in two propositions: Proposition 1 ($224.8 million) addresses planning and construction for future growth, and Proposition 2 ($161.17 million) is aimed at existing campus growth and renovation.
It is under Proposition 2 that a $22.4 million first responder center is proposed for the college’s Hays campus.
“We think it would be good for North Hays,” Mike Midgley, vice president of instruction at ACC, told the Hays Free Press in a telephone interview. “It would be a workforce space for your students.”
The proposed first responder center would collocate criminal justice, fire, paramedics (EMS) and homeland security under one roof at the Kyle campus on the southeast corner of FM 1626 and Kohler’s Crossing.
The center would be a separate facility from the campus in place now at the 96-acre site. Midgley said the proposed improvements are still in the planning stages.
The Hays campus, which opened in January, has a capacity of 2,000, and in its first year has over 1,700 students enrolled.
“We’ll be hitting capacity very quickly,” Midgley said, for which a separate building, the one that would house the first responder center, is called for.
Midgley said that when Hays voters approached the ACC board and asked for a referendum to be scheduled in 2010 so that residents within Hays CISD could be annexed in to the college’s district, the petitioners wanted technical programs and workforce programs in the community.
Midgley said now that a campus has been built and nears capacity in Hays, it’s time to increase capacity and fulfill a commitment the board made to the community.
The ACC board went through a lengthy process and was very thoughtful in proposing a bond, Midgley said.
“We’re trying to be very conservative in the ask,” he said. “…This is a pretty tight package of things that will help us move forward as an institution.”
Aside from the direct impact Proposition 2 would have on the Hays campus, Midgley said Proposition 1 proposes the purchase of 100 acres in southeast Travis County to build a technical regional workforce center there in the future.
He said that while that land acquisition does not directly affect the Hays campus, because of its proximity students from Hays could easily attend and benefit from a proposed future workforce center.
Opponents of the college’s bond, however, say taxpayers already feel stretched too thin, and considering that there has been a decline in ACC enrollment of about eight percent since 2011, there is not enough data to support the need for the additional funding.
If the bond measure, and a tax cap increase also asked for this November are passed, the total tax impact is estimated at about five cents.
Presently, the college’s current maintenance and operation tax rate is nine cents per $100 of property valuation. The college also has a debt service rate that is about half a cent.
If voters approve both bond propositions and the tax cap increase this November, an owner of a $200,000 home could see an annual tax increase of just under $100.
Proponents say that investment ensures a pipeline of skilled workers throughout the region for the jobs of today and tomorrow, while keeping college affordable.
“We’ve had one bond election in our history,” Midgley said. “We’re very good stewards of the public’s money.”
PROPOSITION 1: Planning and Construction for Future Growth
• ACC Highland Campus, phase II—includes repurposing Highland Mall to serve as a regional workforce innovation center, regional health sciences center including STEM simulator lab, digital and creative media center, culinary and hospitality center, and incubator space.
• New campus in Leander
• Acquisition of new property for regional workforce center in southeast Travis County
Proposition 1 total: $224.8 million
PROPOSITION 2: Existing Campus Growth, Renovation, Health, Safety, and Sustainability
• Renovating ACC’s almost 100-year-old historic Rio Grande Campus
• Constructing a regional ?rst-responders training center at Hays Campus
• Constructing an Elgin Campus workforce training center to house veterinary technician and sustainable agricultural entrepreneurship training
• Renovating buildings districtwide for health, environmental sustainability, safety, and technology
• Expanding Round Rock Campus
Proposition 2 total: $161.17 million
Tax Impact
For a home valued at $200,000, the final estimated monthly tax impact of both bonds propositions would be $3.25 (for standard homestead*) and $1.17 (for seniors, homeowners with disabilities**)
*ACC taxpayers receive a standard $5,000 homestead exemption.
**Seniors and residents with disabilities receive an additional $125,000 exemption.
