Blog Stage Five

Will the Republicans gain control of the House and Senate on election day? Will Californians be the first state to vote on and make the drug Marijuana legal? This election day, November 2nd, 2010, there is excitement in the air as many of these questions and more will be answered after months of speculation. Voters will turn out in mass to the voting booths set up across the nation to decide which candidates will help carry this nation and decide the direction we will head towards for the next few years on both a national and local level. Besides voting for candidates, voters will be faced with many other propositions that will directly affect their local community. Unfortunately, looking at the ballot this year, I noticed one piece of legislation that is absent but is desired by many in my local area; the annexation of Pflugerville into the Austin Community College district.

Pflugerville is a community that started off the 1980’s as only a city of several hundred citizens but has recently been certified as having over 51,000 residents as of early 2010. With the tremendous growth in the community, the city has begun to show its own strength and separate identity from the larger cities of Round Rock and Austin by attracting dozens of major commercial companies and larger industrial corporations bringing growth and future to the community. With the explosion in growth and the housing population there has been an establishment of new educational facilities but one glaring omission is access to an institute of higher learning.

To be annexed into the Austin Community College district there are several steps involved. Mainly a resident must gather the signatures of at least 5% of the voting public in the given community. After a series of steps that involve the signatures being turned in and verified for accuracy along with an explanation to the community if annexation election passes, they are placed up for vote in the general elections in either May or November. In the general elections the community as a whole can decide whether to be part of the Austin Community College district.

Many residents have expressed concern for being annexed because it will lead to higher taxes on property. It will lead to a property tax increase of $.09 per $100 dollar assessed property value. This sounds like a very expensive proposition but on the value of an average $160,000 home, it only amounts to an extra $110 a year or, each month, about $12. The increase is barely noticeable on an average mortgage payment of $1,420 a month.

Some residents have stated that the cost of community college is already low compared to a four year university. Right now the cost of attending Austin Community College out of district is on average around $4,900 vs the cost of in-district is $1,700. The savings of annexation can be, on average, up to $6,000 or more on a two year program. As of 2008 there were over 1,177 households in Pflugerville out of 10,000+ that have an individual attending Austin Community College that are paying these higher “Out of District” fees. Looking towards the future over half the households have children under the age of 18 that can potentially benefit as well from lowered fees at Austin Community College. With an only $.09 per $100 property tax increase, you SAVE money by paying the property tax over the average ownership of the property vs the upfront cost of college.

Recently, as of last week, I preformed an informal study of 32 parents at Hendrickson High School during a recent layover after a marching band practice. I discovered that 10 children will be moving to within Austin city limits to attend the community college after graduation. They are relocating to pay a lower fee and due to the lack of community transportation to and from Austin Community College and Pflugerville. That is a loss of potential revenue in the form of employment and sales taxes due to the loss of residents departing the local area. The loss of residents are ones who may not return later on with the addition of their higher education that may benefit the local area with future businesses. Also, due to the fact that the payments are higher, many are applying for student aid from the government which means that even if you do not pay through property taxes specifically to be apart of Austin Community College, your tax dollars will still, in the end, be paying for these individuals maybe even themselves or their own family to attend the institution of higher learning.

It may not be enough time to be on the general ballet this November but the annexation of Pflugerville into Austin Community College district is a goal we should all set in the elections to come. Everyone has the opportunity to benefit from those who cannot afford an education, those already enrolled to those that will reap the benefits of having a better educated work force and community to live along side. It is planning for the future for those that may attend or have family that may attend in the years to come as the cost of higher education goes up each year with the most recent increase being, on average, 7.9% across the nation.