If approved by Central Texas voters, the bond would go toward expanding ACC’s workforce training in high-demand fields, such as health care, advanced manufacturing and information technology across 11 existing campuses and creating two new campuses in southeast and southwest Travis County.
“This is one of the most important actions the ACC board has taken since I joined the board in 2016,” said Nora de Hoyos Comstock, ACC board of trustees vice chair. “We are committed to giving Central Texans the most opportunity to prepare for the future.”
The bond would fulfill a portion of ACC’s most recent Facilities Master Plan from 2021. The plan looks at population growth and program capacities to determine where expansion is needed, said Neil Vickers, ACC executive vice chancellor of finance and administration.
For $200 million, ACC would construct an advanced manufacturing and skilled trades center on 124 acres of land in Del Valle, which ACC acquired from its last bond election in 2014, Vickers said. The center would include automotive technology, building construction technology and welding along with classrooms for general education and student services.
The proposal for the center comes as ACC’s skilled trade programs are expanding beyond capacity at the Riverside Campus, Vickers said.
“Those facilities are way undersized,” Vickers said. “We can't grow them anymore, and those are really high-demand programs.”
ACC would also spend $75 million to reopen its Pinnacle Campus in Southwest Austin, which closed in 2018. Vickers said the college will build an additional facility next to the original campus building at the 55-acre site. The facility will function as a general education campus, offering computer science, business and health care programs.
Other sizable investments include a $100 million expansion in health sciences, including nursing at the Hays Campus in Kyle, a $100 million expansion in advanced manufacturing and a new Entrepreneurship Institute at the Highland Campus in Central Austin and an $80 million IT program expansion at the Cypress Creek Campus in Cedar Park.
The bond would not raise the property tax rate, as property values are anticipated to keep rising, said Sydney Pruitt, ACC senior media relations coordinator. A $500,000 household would pay a maximum of $5 per year for the first five years and up to $25 per year for the remaining years of the bond, Pruitt said.
As the board of trustees approved a tax ceiling for disabled residents and seniors in 2021, those individuals would not be affected.
Certain local business and community leaders in favor of the bond have united to form the ACC Works for All Campaign. The political action committee ACC Works will advocate for the bond’s passage come November.
“We want to be ready to help get the word out and communicate the critical importance of these investments and encourage everybody who can in Central Texas to vote,” said John-Michael Cortez, campaign chair for ACC Works for All Campaign.
The bond will be on the November ballot for those residing in the ACC taxing district, which includes the city of Austin, Austin ISD, Elgin ISD, Del Valle ISD, Hays CISD, Manor ISD, Leander ISD and Round Rock ISD.
Early voting starts Oct. 24, with Election Day taking place Nov. 8.
