Elgin Texas might be home to new ACC Campus (Austin: 2010, how much)

[elginresident]

[SIZE=+1]Elgin Texas Chamber shows support for ACC district[/SIZE]

The Board of Directors for the Greater Elgin Chamber of Commerce voted to show its support for the creation of an Austin Community College (ACC) campus in Bastrop County. Elgin has 5 ideal places to put this college, while Bastrop only 2 places.

There were two dissenting votes on the issue.
A lengthy discussion at the Chamber Board meeting was held regarding the matter, including the civic, educational and economic benefits to the area.

Bastrop County Friends of Higher Education (BCFHE) has been meeting for about a year and will address the August 3 ACC Board meeting with a recommendation, according to David Glass, who co-chairs the group with Tom Scott of Bastrop.

"It has been an enlightening and pleasant experience to work with people from Bastrop and the support for an ACC location is strong there.

"My support hinges on the ACC location being between the two cities. The campus site, which would be about 80 to 100 acres, would need to be identified prior to a November, 2010 election for the district, if an election is called," Glass said.
According to Glass, the facility would employ about 60 people in the beginning. Full-time counselors would be added to both Elgin and Bastrop ISDs, paid for by ACC, Glass said. Smithville ISD apparently will not participate in the program.

Taxes for ACC are capped at $.0954 per $100 valuation, with the average rate of the top 25 community colleges being $0.1497. ACC's tax rate is among the lowest in Texas, at number 42 out of 50 Texas Public Community Colleges.

If voters in the Elgin, Bastrop and McDade ISD approve the annexation in 2010, the first ACC tax bill would not be due until January of 2012, according to information given by Glass to the Chamber.

The ACC tax impact on a Bastrop County regular homestead valued at $160,000, after the $5,000 homestead exemption would be approximately $147.87 a year or $12.32 per month. Senior citizens and disabled will receive a $100,000 homestead exemption with taxes of approximately $57.24 per year or $4.77 per month on a property valued at $160,000, according to information compiled by the BCFHE committee.

The 2008 average taxable value of a residence homestead in Bastrop County was $107,675, as determined by Bastrop County.

The tuition and mandatory fees (if the Elgin, Bastrop and McDade ISD voters approve the ACC district) for students would be $162 for one three-hour course and $1,620 for a full-time student for one year. Out of the ACC district, which Bastrop County currently is, students pay $426 for one three-hour course and $4,260 for one year full-time.

"If we join the ACC district, students would pay only 1/3 of the total fees. We also have a lot of senior citizens who could take advantage of classes.?Manor and Del Valle are already in the district," Glass said.

Some reservations about the ACC taxing district included what would happen if only one of the school districts approved the taxing district. Also a concern was how much the district would actually reduce student costs.

Other questions concerned exactly how many students in Bastrop County actually attend ACC, how much it will cost the taxpayers, how would it affect future bond issues for EISD and the timeline for the campus construction.

[love roses]

It's not that far fetched since Round Rock now has an ACC Campus.

[elginresident]

well this was in the elgin, and bastrop paper