Austin Community College has decided to wait until 2014 to call a bond election that could fund more than $400 million in projects districtwide.

At its Aug. 19 meeting, the college's board of trustees unanimously agreed to hold off until 2014 to call a bond election so that ACC has more time to complete its academic master plan. Waiting a year could also increase voter turnout because ACC would share the ballot with the first Austin City Council members elected to the new 10-1 voting districts as well as several statewide races.

Additionally, board President Jeffrey Richard said it gives staff and board members more time to engage the public for feedback on the bond package proposals.

"I believe this is a worthwhile, long-term approach to engaging the public for what surely will be a long-term and lasting decision," he said. "It matches that we will take a longer time to get it right because the decision will last a long time. Renovations will last 30, 40 years."

In ACC's 40-year history, it has only asked the community to approve one general obligation bond, which voters passed in 2003 for $99 million. Richard said it will be important to tell stakeholders what ACC did with the previous bond money when asking them to pass another bond.

Between April and June, a 25-member Bond Program Advisory Committee met and compiled a list of the top 11 priorities for districtwide projects that include renovations to the Highland campus as well as renovations to other campuses, including the Northridge campus in North Austin, once programs relocate to ACC Highland. A draft list from the bond committee totaled $499 million in upgrades, and ACC staff presented trustees with two smaller packages totaling $475 million and $448 million at the Aug. 19 meeting.

The bond committee used the college's facilities master plan that was approved in 2011 as a guide, but the ACC board also wanted to see the academic master plan completed before pursuing a bond. ACC staff will have the AMP completed this fall. That plan will serve as a blueprint for the strategy of the college's academic programs.

Once the AMP is completed, staff will then use the facilities master plan to see how the college will fulfill its academic goals and incorporate details of the AMP into the facilities plan, said Neil Vickers, ACC vice president of finance and budget.

Completing the AMP likely will not affect what is already in the bond package proposals, Vickers said.

"We don't really foresee significant changes to the bond package that's currently been recommended by the bond advisory committee," he said. "What we do expect the academic master plan to do is to provide us with additional details to how we're going to communicate to the community of the need for those spaces."

Among the top 11 priorities, the Northridge campus could see up to $19.9 million in renovations. One project not in the top 11 priorities is the $93 million Phase 1 of renovation work to Northridge that could add a parking structure, renovation of one existing building, construction of a new building and a traffic light off Metric Boulevard. This project was not included because of logistics, Vickers said.

"To implement those improvements at Northridge, we will actually have to move programs out of Northridge for some amount of time so that we can get in there and do the renovations," he said. "Currently we don't have a place to move those programs. Even though we want to do Northridge sooner than later, we can't."

Once renovations to the former JCPenney store at Highland Mall are complete, Vickers said ACC will be able to start relocating students for other renovation work.

Trustee John-Michael Cortez said a bond package presents a real opportunity for ACC to shape so many things in the community, and investing in its infrastructure will only help that.

"The bottom line is we need all [those projects]," he said. "There were some items that didn't make the cut, but they are all needed."

To convince stakeholders of the need for the bond, Cortez said ACC will need to highlight the value and worth of the projects in the bond package instead of focusing on the cost.

"We're not oblivious to the fact that people are fatigued to taxes," he said.