By Kelli Weldon
Southwest Austin campuses will get some repairs and updates if voters approve the Austin Community College District's proposed bond package in the November election.
ACC board members approved the bond election and a property tax cap increase request June 16. Trustees divided the bond into two propositions.
Proposition 1 consists of $224.8 million allocated toward Highland Mall repurposing, construction of a campus in Leander and acquisition of property for a regional workforce center in southeast Travis County. Proposition 2 consists of $161.2 million to address existing campus growth, renovations, health, safety and sustainability, according to ACC.
In Proposition 2, $3.1 million is allocated toward renovations and improvements at the ACC Pinnacle campus, and $2.7 million is allocated toward the South Austin campus. Projects will include significant electrical, accessibility and safety upgrades at Pinnacle and some basic repairs and renovations at the South Austin campus, said Neil Vickers, ACC vice president of finance and budget.
"Campuses like Pinnacle predate a lot of the building codes that are in place now, and so while they're grandfathered and we're not required [to update those], a lot of those codes are there for a reason, so we're going to bring those things up to code," he said.
He added that studies have shown that updating facilities enhances student success.
"Pretty much all of our campuses, especially our older campuses, are way over capacity. The consequence of that is in order to get that many students in there, you have to take space from somewhere else [to accommodate that], so that [space] comes from student services," he said, citing testing centers, learning labs and student lounge spaces as examples.
ACC's bond program advisory committee looked at expanding both campuses as part of the bond but encountered some challenges; those expansions did not make it into the final package, Vickers said. In the case of Pinnacle, he said ACC wants more information on transportation plans for the Y at Oak Hill, where Hwy. 290 and Hwy. 71 intersect. ACC owns land along the Hwy. 290 frontage road east of the existing campus but has not yet finalized plans for that space, he said. The area surrounding the South Austin campus is built out, so there is no room to accommodate an expansion of that site, he said.
Voters will also consider increasing the college's property tax cap over time by a total of 3 cents. ACC said the increase would help stabilize tuition costs, cover deferred maintenance, and expand programs for veterans and adult learners.
Trustees approved the full $386 million bond package, with trustee Tim Mahoney opposed and trustee Nan McRaven absent. No trustees objected to the proposed tax increase.
If the bond measures and tax cap increase are approved, the tax impact would be phased in during the next six years, according to ACC. This is the first ACC bond or tax cap election since 2003.
More information is available at https://sites.austincc.edu/bond/bond-projects.
