FRIENDS OF ACC

Which communities are currently included in the ACC district?

Austin, Leander, Manor, Del Valle, and Round Rock Independent School Districts, as well as all of the City of Austin (parts of Pflugerville and Eanes ISDs). A majority vote in each area approved joining ACC. [Back to top]

Which communities are eligible to join?

The people of any county, independent school district, or municipality in the ACC “service area” may join by majority vote in an election. This includes these additional school districts: Bastrop, Blanco, Coupland, Doss, Dripping Springs, Eanes, Elgin, Fredericksburg, Georgetown, Harper, Hays, Jarrell, Johnson City, Lago Vista, Lake Travis, Leander, Liberty Hill, Lockhart, Luling, McDade, Nixon-Smiley, Pflugerville, Prairie Lea, San Marcos, Smithville, and Wimberley. [Back to top]

What are the benefits and costs of joining the ACC district?

ACC tuition/fee totals for students who are residents of the ACC district are about one-third those for non-residents. This is a savings of more than $3,000 per year for a full-time student. The cost is a property tax assessment limited to 9.6 cents per $100, which is less than $8 per month for each $100,000 of home value. Senior citizens get a $100,000 homestead exemption, and thus pay substantially less. [Back to top]

Will ACC build a campus in my community if it joins the ACC district?

Not necessarily, but before any annexation election ACC will provide a service plan that states what it will do for that area if the annexation is approved. Where and when ACC builds campuses depends both on the nearness of existing campuses and on the level of ACC enrollment from the area. In many cases, a new area already is closer to an ACC campus than most of the current residents of the district. Where this is not true, ACC can be expected to include a new campus in the service plan, but communities should talk directly to ACC about this in the exploratory phase that precedes an annexation petition. [Back to top]

Why is ACC tuition so much higher for people who reside outside the ACC district?

The average cost to ACC to provide instruction is currently almost $300 per credit hour (most courses are three credit hours). Out-of-state students pay this full average cost. The State of Texas reimburses ACC for about 30% of costs for students, leaving 70% to be covered by local revenue sources. The local property tax paid by families and businesses in the ACC district subsidizes about half of the total cost for local students (in addition to the 30% paid from state funds), lowering their tuition/fee rate to about 20% of average cost. Because it is not seen as fair to use the taxes of in-district communities to subsidize the tuition of students from other communities, the tuition/fee rate for Texas residents outside the taxing district is higher, currently about 60% of average costs. Since this is still below the full-share value of about 70% of average cost, the out-of-district tuition rate is being increased each year by about $9 per credit-hour. [Back to top]

What role does Friends Of ACC PAC play in efforts of communities to join the ACC district?

Friends of ACC PAC is a regional political action committee formed to support citizen efforts to expand or better support the Austin Community College district. It provides free support for local campaigns – petition-drive information, campaign-materials production, and fundraising. The local campaign committee decides on the timing of the election, any needed adaptations of campaign materials and tactics to local conditions, and the best targets for petition and campaigning efforts. [Back to top]

How can a "Join ACC" election be called?

If 5% of the registered voters in a eligible area sign a petition asking for such an election, ACC will call the election (in May or November) after holding public hearings to explain ACC's plans to serve the area. Signatures are valid for six months. Approval of the ACC Board is also required, but its policies state that any community wishing to join will be given permission upon request. [Back to top]

How much time and effort does the petition drive take?

Petitions should be delivered to ACC by 120 days before the target election date (e.g., by early July for a November election, or mid-January for a May election). The length of time needed to collect signatures depends on the number of people involved in collecting them, but a month or two should be enough for a well-organized campaign.

Several methods have proven to work: [1] door to door canvassing in neighborhoods, working from lists that show the registered voters at each address (Friends of ACC PAC can supply these), [2] mailings of petition forms to voters with stamped return envelopes included, and [3] collecting signatures at community events such as football games. Signing rates when canvassing are very high, about 90%. The return rate from mailings is lower, but less volunteer effort is required and the mailings can be done in stages that focus on the most favorable households first.

Friends of ACC PAC can supply addresses of eligible voters, prioritizing those households in which a family member has attended ACC. Anyone can collect signatures, and it is permissible to pay signature collectors, although collection by volunteers is quite feasible and probably preferable since it demonstrates popular support. Volunteers and mailings produced most valid signatures in campaigns so far.

Some safeguards are prudent to ensure that petition signatures are valid. Friends Of ACC PAC provides a service that makes use of voter rolls to check that signers are eligible and are using their official voter-roll names and certificate numbers. FOACC PAC also provides voter lists arranged by street address to facilitate door-to-door campaigning, but does not supply campaign workers with voter birthdate information, requiring that to be gathered from the signer as a validation. Duplications in handwriting should also be checked for, with any dubious or ineligible signatures marked off the petitions prior to turning them in. A further possible check is to send a letter to each signer household, asking to be informed if there is any question about the validity of the signature. [Back to top]

What campaign is required to win the election after the petitions are submitted?

The Spring 2004 campaign in Del Valle ISD got a 59% favorable vote with campaign expenditures of less than $5000 and a modest-sized (but hardworking) group of volunteers, even though it shared the ballot with another controversial tax proposition. The May 2005 "All of Austin" vote got 61% approval in the new areas with less than $4000 of expenditures. The earlier Manor election, which had strong support from the leadership of the school district, got a 70% majority with even lower expenditures. In the larger Round Rock ISD election, on the other hand, local community leaders raised and spent about $100,000, getting most of the needed petition signatures by mail and winning the vote by 64%-36%.

Community colleges command much wider support than many other types of government action (even than public elementary and secondary schools), and it is usually possible to build a broad range of local support, especially from community leaders. Still, the relatively high level of Texas real-estate taxes ensures that the proposition will encounter substantial voter resistance, especially since most people underestimate the likelihood that they or members of their family will use ACC directly.

While some basic campaign work is needed to inform people of the election, the deciding factor in such an election will be the extent to which people in the community feel that ACC is a useful institution. Since this is generally acknowledged, a campaign that reminds people of this and emphasizes that joining the ACC district will cut student tuition/fee costs by about 2/3 can be expected to be successful, especially if ACC is willing to build a new campus in or near the community. It is easy to identify likely voters (those who have voted in similar past elections, plus ACC students and their families), and adequate mailings to inform them cost about $1 per household. [Back to top]

What is the next step if I am interested in getting my community to join ACC?

Talk to your local community leaders first (e.g., pastors, elected officials, organization leaders), since the support (or at least neutrality) of most of them will be essential. ACC's Governmental & Community Relations Department can provide a wealth of objective information about ACC services, although the college cannot take part in political activities or provide direct support in the petition drive or election (that's why FOACC PAC was organized). Friends of ACC PAC can provide examples of campaign materials and send someone to meetings in your community to share information about how to organize an annexation petition and election, and to provide help to local people who wish to conduct an annexation campaign . [Back to top]

Joining the Austin Community College District