Austin Community College approved its 2014–15 fiscal year budget July 7 without increasing tuition rates for ACC in-district students.

Students within the ACC taxing district, which includes Round Rock, will continue paying $67 per credit hour.

"To not put any further burden on our students, I think it's a fine budget," trustee Allen Kaplan said during the July 7 board meeting.

However, students outside ACC's taxing district—Pflugerville and Hutto residents, for example—will pay $23 extra in student fees per credit hour beginning this fall. All students will pay $15 per credit hour in general fees, up from $13 last school year.

This year's budget benefited from an 8.5 percent districtwide property tax value increase, accumulating an extra $5.9 million for ACC. That extra money not only helps keep tuition level but also will go toward covering health insurance costs for some adjunct faculty and ensuring a 2 percent pay increase for all ACC employees.

ACC district voters will decide in November whether to increase the college's 9.49 cent tax rate by 1 cent in fiscal years 2016, 2018 and 2020. The college is also asking voters to approve a $385.6 million bond package that would provide money to build a new $33.4 million building at ACC's Round Rock campus, which first opened in fall 2010. The bond also includes $60 million for a Leander ACC campus.