I Could Be Wrong
by RAY WOLBRECHT
There are quite a few people who feel that the ACC annexation election was a raw deal because Austin Community College deliberately withheld vital information concerning the maximum tax liability that we property owners and renters could be paying. If the current tax that they did publish was the last word in the property tax, it wouldn’t be such a big deal.
But concerning the meeting last Tuesday, the headlines said it was nothing more than a pep rally for those who are disgruntled about the election. ACC and their supporters were invited but none showed. The evidence of bad behavior is irrefutable and they know it. Bob Barton came in 45 minutes late during the question and answer and comments portion of the meeting and heard nothing of the presentation that in detail explained what we were unhappy about. So he arrived with his pre shaped opinion that an election is an election and good or bad we just need to walk away from it. He’s been the victim of both types so he has those experiences to draw upon. But he should’ve heard the presentation first so he could speak as an educated person with an opinion based on evidence.
But let’s all get one thing straight: we are not against a campus. I personally would like a campus. But we don’t want to have to have a leap of faith over what we hope ACC will provide. What exactly will we get for that $3.3 million that leaves our community every year? The service plan is not a contract; it is for “informational purposes only.” ACC thumbs their noses at the Texas Legislature when ACC ignores their laws when they refuse to comply with the criteria that the legislature demands for a service plan. ACC is not bound by what they say in the plan anyway, and even then it is full of “maybes” Read it again and look for yourself. We’d prefer a contract stating what they’re going to provide and when. The article in the Austin American-Statesman has the spokeslady saying that “ACC is committed to a ‘full service facility.’” Let’s all remember she said that. Will ACC in Kyle provide the vocational courses along with remedial reading, writing, and ‘rithmatic courses that 50 percent of incoming freshmen have to take before they can take a college credit course? According to the service plan the expensive vocational courses are “maybes.”
Already the tuition has increased, wiping out 25 percent of that savings that students were so excited about. In January 2012, 35 percent of that savings will disappear. The bond indebtedness has increased too now that Hays CISD owns a share of ACC’s $444 million debt.
So here we are trying to do something about it. Why is that so bad?
Ray Wolbrecht is a local dentist who has lead the charge about ACC’s election in Hays CISD.
