I am asking you to vote FOR both of these:
Proposition 1. Asks to raise the ceiling on ACC's tax rate to 9 cents from the current 5 cents. This will be phased in over three years, with an extra 2 cents in FY04, another one cent in FY05, and the remaining one cent in FY06.
Proposition 2. Asks for a $0.01 tax to finance $99 million in bonds for construction and renovation of needed facilities.
Discussion:
ACC has three sources of funding: local taxes, state funds, and tuition and fees. Because of the state budget crisis, state appropriations for community colleges will be lowered next year. It isn't clear yet how much. Proposals range from $6 million lower to $15 million lower for ACC. Since ACC is already at our maximum for local taxes, if Proposition 1 doesn't pass, we'll have to raise tuition substantially simply to keep the doors open. It will probably mean a more than 50% increase in in-district tuition just to replace the lost state funding if no more local tax money is available.
ACC already has one of the highest tuitions for community colleges in the state. It also has the lowest local tax rate. Our 5 cents is just 1/3 of the state average. More information.
Making education this much more expensive will have substantial negative long-term effects on our community who depends on ACC for education and training and on our economy which depends on trained workers.
More information is available from http://www.accyes.org/ and http://www.austincc.edu/future/index.php
EndorsementsLast updated April 22, 2003. Mary Parker