ACC board of trustees postpone bond election until November 2014

"The academic master plan is absolutely key to where this college is going to go, and we need to have that completed," Kaplan said. "As I understand, it will be completed in October, and we need to digest things and see how that informs what we eventually put on the ballot."

In March, the board appointed 25 members to a Bond Program Advisory Committee to assist staff with the process of preparing for a bond election. In June, the committee delivered a list of 11 top priorities for districtwide improvement projects, including renovations at Highland Mall, the construction of a Leander campus and existing campus expansions.

Two weeks before the decision to delay the bond vote, Leander city staff members, including City Manager Kent Cagle, reiterated to the board the need for an ACC Leander campus, citing that between 2025–30, Leander's population could surpass Cedar Park's. Cagle told the board that areas north of Leander are also expected to grow, and many of those students could attend an ACC Leander campus.

Following the board's bond election postponement, Cagle said the city would benefit from an ACC campus, but Leander cannot use any public funds to take a position on a future bond election.

"The city was disappointed in the ACC decision, but we understand and appreciate their concerns," Cagle said.

Trustees Victor Villarreal, Barbara Mink and John-Michael Cortez said they felt ACC was well-prepared to call a bond election this year but that it is wise to wait until 2014. Cortez stressed that the board's decision to not call a bond election in 2013 is not a reflection of the work done thus far by ACC staff or a reflection of how trustees feel about recommended projects for the bond package.

"As I've mentioned a couple of times, even beyond the 11 items, we need all of these things," Cortez said. "I think [the board's decision] is a reflection of a pretty-well-thought-out, conceived understanding of where the community is."

Emilie Boenig contributed to this story.