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16 This is the first in a short series of articles examining some of the issues surrounding the upcoming Nov. 2 election where voters in the Bastrop Independent School District will decide whether or not to join the Austin Community College taxing district.
As the Bastrop County Friends of Higher Education make their case on the benefits of joining the Austin Community College taxing district, the issue of tuition affordability is usually found at the heart of the conversation.
According to proponents of the ACC annexation plan, the tuition savings – $42 per credit hour for in-district students compared to $150 per credit hour for out-of-district students – are well worth the property tax increases that would be levied if voters of the Bastrop ISD decide on Nov. 2 to join the community college’s district.
Such advocates not only point to the tuition savings over time offsetting the added tax burden, but also stress the long-term positive impact of a more educated local workforce.
“The increased earning power of these better educated workers would, over time, generate hundreds of million of dollars in additional income to the Bastrop County economy,” reads a statement from the BCFHE website.
Keeping in mind, however, that Bastrop is not the first community to debate the tradeoffs of ACC annexation, an examination of a nearby community who has joined the community college’s district might be relevant – as well as potentially indicating a conclusion on cost/benefits being a matter of perspective and place.
Consider for example, the Del Valle ISD, a community just 20 minutes west of Bastrop that voted in May of 2004 to join the ACC’s taxing district.
According to data on high school graduates from the Texas Education Agency, 42 of the 382 total graduates of Del Valle ISD’s class of 2003 enrolled in Austin Community College that fall (264 of those graduates were listed as not found). Comparatively, in the fall of 2009, 74 of the 425 total graduates from Del Valle ISD enrolled at an ACC campus (223 were listed as not found). Data on student headcounts from ACC itself, paints an even more optimistic picture of increasing enrollment. The ACC, which tallies student headcount by zip code, cites 325 students with a Del Valle zip code as enrolling in the fall of 2009 compared to 205 students in the fall of 2005.
By both tallies, the number of Del Valle students taking advantage of in-district tuition at ACC has increased since the annexation vote.
Yet when the added taxes being paid annually by residents of the school district are weighed into the equation, the positive impact of annexation might not seem so clear. Such is especially a concern, say some residents, considering Del Valle did not receive its own campus as a result of paying into the ACC.
Joe Jackson, a former administrator with the Abilene School District who moved to Del Valle in the late 1990s and sent his children through its schools, is one of those who says the taxes have hardly been worth the benefits of reduced tuition.
Jackson voiced his opposition to the annexation push in 2004 and says his contention then, as it is now, is that the tax dollars being spent by such a fast-growing community should stay in the district instead of flowing out to the ACC.
“To me I felt very strongly we needed to have the money in our own district, to meet the educational needs of our own district,” Jackson said. “I’m not opposed to education. But the increase in the tax value that occurred should have been used in Del Valle itself.”
Looking at the numbers, the total taxable value of properties in Del Valle certified for 2010 and adjusted after exemptions comes out to approximately $2.8 billion, according to the Travis Central Appraisal District. With the current taxing rate levied by the ACC being 9.46 cents per $100 valuation, the community college is earning over $2.6 million annually in revenue from the school district, based on those values.
According to ACC’s communications office, Del Valle’s taxable value at the time of annexation was $2.2 billion, which generated about $2 million in tax revenue for ACC.
Beyond the outward flowing tax dollars, however, an additional point of contention for Jackson was the way in which the annexation election was decided. Because Del Valle is a community with many low-income residents and minimal outlets for communication between its citizens, Jackson says there were not enough voters who truly understood the financial implications of a “yes” vote.
“We had people who didn’t have good running water in their homes and you had an entity come in from the outside and attack us,” Jackson said. “I thought it was a sad state of affairs for a junior college to start doing that when they already had access to the city of Austin. We don’t have a newspaper or a radio station or a chamber of commerce that could speak to the people out here.”
According to figures from ACC, the final results of the May 15, 2004 election were 803 residents in favor of annexation as opposed to 553 against.
Jackson’s sentiments are obviously not shared by those in ACC. Brette Lea, executive director of public information and college marketing says that even though a campus was not constructed in Del Valle, the college has continually worked with the school district.
“There are other programs that I’m not sure all of the people of Del Valle are aware of,” Lea said. “We work very closely with Del Valle in terms of offering programs and services and scholarships.”
Lea went on to stress the differences between the annexation push in Del Valle and that taking place in Bastrop, where a campus is planned if annexation is approved by voters.
“It’s not a mission of the college to put a campus in every community,” Lea said. “In some areas there is just not as much a benefit as in others. We put campuses where the need is.”
Marvilyn Reyes, senior public information and news coordinator for ACC, expounded on such a point, saying the close proximity of Del Valle to Austin did not warrant a new campus being built.
“At the time of the election, the district was already situated next to an existing campus, Riverside,” Reyes said. “The immediate direct benefit was the lowered tuition rates for all students and free Early College Start for their high school juniors and seniors.”
As many Central Texans may recall, the Del Valle annexation vote was followed by ACC’s annexation in 2005 of portions of Austin that were not included in the Austin ISD. After that move, Round Rock ISD was next, voting in May of 2008 to join the ACC taxing district.
The specific area of Round Rock ISD annexed in 2008 by the community college held a total taxable value of $13.9 billion in 2008, which in turn has generated approximately $12.5 million of tax revenue for ACC, according to the ACC communications office.
Those funds have been allocated in large part towards the construction of a new Round Rock campus. The facility – set to be the largest of ACC’s eight campuses – is scheduled to open this month and will be capable of serving more than 5,000 students. Figures from the Texas comptrollers office listed the Round Rock ISD’s total taxable value in 2008 as $20 billion.
According to the TEA data, 472 of the 2,545 graduates of Round Rock ISD’s class of 2009 went on to enroll in Austin Community College that same fall (911 being listed as not found). By comparison, in 2007, 341 of the school district’s 2,172 graduates were listed by the TEA as enrolling in fall classes at ACC.
Here in Bastrop ISD, 68 of the total 512 high school graduates of 2009 enrolled in ACC that fall, according to the TEA figures (291 students being listed as not found). According to ACC’s own student demographic figures, 431 students were enrolled at ACC in the fall of 2009 that had zip codes from either Bastrop or Cedar Creek.
The total taxable value for the Bastrop ISD after exemptions and before freeze adjustments is currently $2.5 billion according to the Bastrop County tax assessor/collectors office.
Private University Tutition
If I read the above correctly, Round Rock is paying private university rates to ACC for students there. 472 students dividded by $12,500,000 = $26,483. Wow!!! Del Valle is paying $29, 729 per student for ACC’s services. Bastrop will get to pay $33,823 per student, or if ACC’s demographics figures are correct we get to pay a modest $5336 per student.
Is it me, or is there something very wrong here???
V. Henry
It is no secret, I oppose this TAXING district for many reasons.
I have put together a website ACCTAXFACTS.COM which gathers facts and figures concerning the AUSTIN CCD. No, I didn’t make all the info up. There are sources listed.
I like the phrase I found on the website made by a Hays County resident in opposition to the AUSTIN CC TAXING District
“Tuition is temporary, a tax is forever.”
Post secondary education is a choice, kinda like going to Six Flags…..I and many other Bastrop County Taxpayers don’t want to pay for it, no matter how much fun it is.
PS Big turnout tonite at the Bastrop Independents forum. People finally appear to have had enough. Just wait till they get their property tax bill this year.
I love the slogan “Tuition is temporary, a tax is forever”!!! How very true.
As VHenry points out, the math simply doesn’t work.
We’re paying TOO MUCH for TOO LITTLE. Let’s also not forget that ACC will vote in September to INCREASE THE TAX RATE to 9.51 cents/ $100 in value. Anyone want to bet how the vote turns out?
So, running the numbers I get the following:
Per ACC’s website, a two year AA or AS degree requires 60 credit hours.
Total Cost of a 60 hr degree
Out of District: $9,000
In District: $2,520
Difference: $6,480
ACC Tax Collected in BISD (millions of dollars)
9.46 cents/100 = $2,356,000
9.51 cents/100 = $2,377,500
Total Taxes Paid Per Student for 60 credit hours (two tax years):
BISD Count (68 students)
$69,559 @9.46cents
$69,926 @9.51cents
ACC Count (431 students)
$10,974 @9.46cents
$11,032 @9.51cents
Thus:
At the proposed 9.46 cent tax rate, the numbers look like this:
+ Tax Payer Pays: $10,974
+ Student Pays: $2,520
= Total Paid: $13,494
- Out of District Cost: $9,000
= Total LOSS: $4,494
At the proposed 9.51 cent tax rate, the numbers look like this.
+ Tax Payer Pays: $11,032
+ Student Pays: $2,520
= Total Paid: $13,552
- Out of District Cost: $9,000
= Total LOSS: $4,552
From the above story: “According to ACC’s own student demographic figures, 431 students were enrolled at ACC in the fall of 2009 that had zip codes from either Bastrop or Cedar Creek.”
At the Austin CC public hearing, a BHS student got up and spoke. He said enrollment in ACC is “mandatory” for all BHS students.
Is that right? How can enrollment be “mandatory?” That would certainly explain the 431 enrollments.
Great arithmetic lesson Charlie G. Our job now is to reach as many property taxpayers before the election. The numbers are growing in opposition to the ACC Pyramid Scheme. Already there are four (4) websites providing information I didn’t know until I was enlightened. I didn’t know the BISD school district was burdened with a whooping $429 million in bond debt and that it (you and me) owed more in interest than in principal. I didn’t know we would be inheriting ACC’s $444 million in debt on top of what we already have. Taxpayers in Bastrop and Hays County have worked many hours to put together this info for all of us. Oh, those sites aren’t sponsored by any real estate developers or their agents, architects, builders and land speculators. They have created the websites at their own expense with nothing to gain but saving the dollars on a tax they think is unwarranted. Here they are – acctaxfacts.com, noacctax.info, noacctax.com and citizen.home.texas.net/NoThanksACC/
If “We the People” are really serious about our concern over debt and deficits and high taxes we will start acting responsibly with this vote. ACC is a choice – “Tuition is temporary but taxes are forever.”
I work for Manor ISD. I just came from a meeting and was told that Manor ISD is fighting with ACC because ACC wants Manor to cancel 2 classes that already has students enrolled in because ACC cannot find instructors for these classes.
All ACC wants BASTROP for is to help them remedy their financial woes. ACC has too many problems and BISD has its own share of problems which is why I want BISD to focus on solving their problems and not to try to rescue ACC.
According to recent figures, a student attending a 2-year college needs about $10,000 a year. That student receives an average of $3,000 in grants/scholarships and $1,000 in loan. That student needs to make up the additional $6,000 somehow.
Where in Bastrop can a student get a job for $6,000? I haven’t seen many possibilities.
The student goes elsewhere to work…most likely AUSTIN. And guess what, he/she does get a job in Austin to supplement his/her education and then is living in the ACC district and receives indistrict tuition rates.
ACC is not in this for philanthropy. They need the money to fund the students of AUSTIN. We can never outvote Austin if this is passed, look at the voting numbers; the students alone can enact tax increases.
As I see it, we pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for students in K-12. College is a choice; not all graduates want to attend.
It seems ludicrous to me for taxpayers to continue to fund education for everyone, even those who choose not to go on to college. Look at the numbers in the posts above. They are correct. Why are we not able to ever say no? Do we not vote? Are the May votes the problem? All of the above.
ACC already wants a tax increase while at the same time they want to eliminate the exemption for properties with historical designation exemption. It’s going up and will continue.
What is the cost of lost opportunity? What would Bastrop be like if your family, friends, neighbors, coworkers, employees or boss had affordable and convenient access to education and job skills training? Can Bastrop progress while most of workforce is ill prepared for anything other than menial labor? Is Bastrop worth the investment?
To reply to Jerry’s comment, Bastrop does have access to affordable education. ACC classes are offered in the evenings and those course are not at the expense of the local taxpayer. Additionally there is an ACC campus located on Riverside Drive in Austin. That is about 25 miles from Bastrop. Keep in mind that even if ACC had a campus here, students will likely have to drive to other campuses since few ACC campuses offer every class in the ACC catalog. So convenience does exist here.
Affordability–the federal government has several tax credits for higher education. You can receive up to a $4000 tax credit on your taxes for your higher education. In addition to that $4000, there are loan forgiveness programs and other tax credits available. Affordability is already in place.
Is ACC an affordable solution? Given the numbers that are being published, a community is expected to pay what amounts to private tuition rates to ACC. Given the number of students taking class from the Del Vally ISD, the tax payers of Del Valley are paying about $29,000 per student per year for ACC services. The figures for the Bastrop ISD would be similar, some where in the $30,000 range and Round Rock is in the $28,000 range. I am sure that if needed, we could find a far more cost efficient alternative.
Workforce. It is no secret that many, even most of the jobs may be menial jobs. We do not, yet, attract a large number of employers who demand more than menial tasks. The addition of ACC will not draw those employers to the community. A four year institution with research resources will draw the type of employer you are suggesting. This is a addressed in the University of Virginia study on the economics effects of community colleges on the host commmunity.
The decision to aquire education beyond 12th grade is an individual decision. As such, the individual should be responsible, not the entire community. There is access to funds to help with higher education. With all that is in place, there is no need for another tax for another governmental agency.
The ability to tax, is also the ability to destroy. Simply put, if you cannot pay your taxes, the government can destroy your home and ruin your life. We are already faced with significant tax hikes across the board and the combination of those taxes will make it difficult for a number in our community to hold on to their homes. Do we throw one group out while supporting another group?
Is Bastrop worth the investment? There are many other things that are worth the investment, however ACC is not one of those. The college will add very little to our community. One only needs to read the studies by the University of Virginia which claim there is no, or little economic benefit to a community hosting a community college.
A different question to ask is how is the Texas State University extension funded in Round Rock? Is that a more viable, reasonable and acceptable option for Bastrop?
RE: Jerry Hendrichs: Initially I wanted to counter your statements, but I can only conclude you have not had an opportunity to check WHY so many are opposed to the AUSTIN Community College TAXING District. So here is one website with links to 4 others which talk about the horrendous debt load the City, County and ISD has already. They show you with simple arithmetic (Just like CharlieG did above) why the TAXING district is simply not a good value. If you are not a thief, you will probably see the light.
http://www.acctaxfacts.com
Those that want BISD annexed say we’re talking about just a few dollars a year and the ACC campus will bring industry, money and more people to our area. Is it that a fact? Are we talking about a few dollars or real money?
We’re told that the ACC tax of $.09 can’t go higher without the voters approving it – that’s to pay for the yearly budget. By statute it can go as high as $.50. Will it ever? There’s no way to know. ACC states that the “average” tax rate for community colleges is $.15 and ACC’s tax rate is below that. What happens when it has annexed all the service areas that will vote for being annexed and it needs more money. It already has a $235 million budget. It appears that annexing its service areas and getting tax money from those is helping meet that yearly budget. If BISD is annexed and the tax rate is placed on a ballot, the City of Austin, Austin ISD, Round Rock ISD, and the rest of the ISDs already annexed will be able to drown out any vote we have.
The bond debt tax rate for ACC is going from $.046 to $.051 this year. That fluctuates according to the local appraisal values because they have a payment to make on those bonds approved in the past by voters. If the appraisal values go down, the tax rate goes up because ACC has to bring in a certain amount to meet those payments. With the current bond debt ACC has, it looks like with principal and interest a total debt of about $444 million. The tax rate for the bond debt can go as high as $.50 by statute.
Bastrop ISD has a current total bond debt to be paid back of $435 million. Bastrop ISD residents are already on the hook for this debt, thanks in part to the vote to put in the massive new high school, a performing arts center and an athletic stadium all for about $96 million – at least that’s the amount on the ballot. Add the interest of $115 million and the total debt for that one bond proposition election comes to $211 million – that’s about half the debt owed by Bastrop ISD. The budget for 2010-11 appears to be about $65 million.
Are we getting value for our money? Bastrop ISD is rated by the Texas Education Agency (TEA). The ratings are “Academically Unacceptable, Academically Acceptable, Recognized and Exemplary.” For 2009-10 Bastrop ISD was rated Academically Acceptable (”Met Absolute Standards”). Perhaps we should raise standards within our own school system before trying to tax our citizens out of their home by sending over $2 million a year of our tax dollars to Austin.
Some talk about bringing affordable higher education to Bastrop but are we? While the few students that graduate from BISD and go to ACC – 54 in 2008 – get a cheaper tuition as in-district students, they and their parents and every taxpayer in BISD will be on the hook paying for that education from now on. And that’s whether or not any BISD resident attends ACC. ACC wants to drop two courses that students have already signed up for in Manor ISD because they lack teachers for those courses. I’ve heard from two individuals that classes they took at ACC wouldn’t transfer. I don’t know the circumstances with either individual but it is certainly worth checking on. Continuing Education classes don’t receive a lower tuition for in-district students. Dr. Kinslow said that the campus at Bastrop would be a “small one” – $38 million – and have only the core classes – which means that all students will still have to drive to another ACC campus for the rest of their classes.
On the ACC website it states that it has a 4% graduation rate. This is for a 2-year college where many high school students in its service district can take most of their first year classes in high school for ACC credit at no cost to the parents. The students listed by zip code on the ACC website include these high school students taking “dual courses” for ACC credit.
I can find no feasibility study nor cost analysis to see what impact an ACC campus in Bastrop ISD will have on the local economy. Studies we have seen for other areas indicate it will probably have little. We also don’t know if the State agencies that oversee higher education will allow two campuses 16 miles apart in both Elgin and Bastrop if both are annexed. We may pay out the tax money and not have a campus here. It has been said before and is so accurate – Tuition is temporary; Taxes are forever.
ACC isn’t for a bunch of old farts that already know it all. It is for the 7.9% that are unemployed, the parents of the children in our schools (Only one school from EISD and BISD has less than 50% of students considered economically disadvantaged most are about 70%.), the cashier with the hopeless gaze and those with fulltime jobs and no time to drive to Austin.
Presuming someone has reliable transportation, gas money and the hour to drive to Austin and back you still might not be able to get a class a the Riverside campus because the campus is at capacity and the vocational classes are filled within hours of opening. ACC needs another campus east of Austin
Education is an appropriate role for government and yes education is expensive but without it you are almost guaranteed to live in poverty of which Bastrop has more than its fair share. Bastrop cannot afford to turn down opportunities that bring value either private or public.
I hold a degree from ACC. I’m one of the 4%. I paid for my own degree with my own money and I paid out of district rates. It’s not difficult. Get off the couch, get a job and become a productive member of society.
We don’t need Austin Clown College!
Remember when ACC began, it was going to be FREE, and in NO TAXES. Don’t fall for the hype. We will pay, and pay, and pay, and pay.
TAXES ARE FOREVER!
Dual use facilities save tax payers money. Is there anything in their service plan that can not be taught in one of your existing facilities?
Texas education code allows for your students to receive in district tuition if you allow ACC to use your facilities. Why build overpriced brick and mortar facilities when you already have them. More and more classes are being taught over the internet, and the ones where hands on is required you have the place to have them already.
Has anyone thought about setting up your own Community College?
ACC proved it can be done without taxing peoples over taxed property. I feel they lost their way when they started taxing property, all the questionable things they have done have been in the pursuit of power and money. First thing you don’t need in 2010 is television commercials, Radio Ads, Newspaper Ads, Magazine Ads and a PAC.
How many peoples money taken by force, taxes are not voluntary, are used to pay for commercials?