Middle school students from Pflugerville and Hays visit the skills lab in the Health Sciences Simulation Center at Austin Community College’s Highland Campus in Austin, Monday, May 11, 2026. Pflugerville residents are mixed on if the independent school district should join ACC’s taxing district in exchange for more college services.
Mikala Compton/Austin American-Statesman
Eight years ago, Pflugerville residents rallied their community to join Austin Community College’s taxing district for access to more affordable tuition and tailored workforce training. But the measure failed with 56.5% voting against the measure.
Now, the city will get another chance.
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On Thursday night, ACC trustees hosted a town hall in Pflugerville to answer questions about joining the community college district. Last month, residents successfully submitted a proposal for annexation, and ACC could formally call for an election at their August board meeting.
The parts of the Pflugerville Independent School District inside Austin city limits are already included in the community college’s taxing district, but the majority of the school district — which is in Pflugerville city limits — is not.
Austin Community College’s service area is about the size of Connecticut, encompassing Leander, Manor, Del Valle, Round Rock, Hays Consolidated and Elgin ISDs plus the city of Austin. After a 2024 vote, Lockhart ISD also joined ACC’s boundaries.
The property tax rate is $0.1034 per $100 of property value. The average home in Pflugerville would pay about $391 more in property taxes per year, based on the city’s median home value of $378,234.
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The pitch for ACC
Some members of a Facebook group, Keep Pflugerville Affordable, are urging their neighbors to reject the measure because of the tax increase, which residents would be paying indefinitely. But others said the same affordability needs are a reason to opt into the services ACC provides.
An in-district student pays $5,100 in tuition and fees to obtain an associate degree, or $85 per credit hour — the most affordable community college option in Central Texas, Chancellor Russell Lowery-Hart said at the meeting Thursday. Out-of-district students in Pflugerville ISD pay $17,160 total or $286 per credit hour for the same education.
The college supports students ages 14 and older starting with early college programs and works directly with workforce partners in high-demand industries like manufacturing, Lowery-Hart said. ACC also partners with four-year colleges like Texas State University to help students who want to transfer to earn a bachelor’s degree.
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“Once we become a part of a community, we become a part of the workforce of that community and engage directly with employers to find out what skills they need and offer the programs that meet those needs,” Lowery-Hart said.
The chancellor said the college only offers degrees that give students a return on their investment and works directly with employers “that have jobs waiting (for) our students.”
“Our primary purpose as a district is to ensure that when students finish with us they get what they need, and they make more money as a result and they make enough money to support their family,” Lowery-Hart said.
Right now, Pflugerville does not have a community college in city limits. In 2022, about 53% of Pflugerville ISD graduates didn’t go to college after graduation, according to data shared by the college. After ACC passed its free tuition pilot program, which provided a discount to Pflugerville high school graduates, there was a 5% boost in graduates enrolling in college after high school, ACC said.
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Joining ACC’s service district has rapidly boosted educational attainment in Lockhart, Lowery-Hart said, noting there was a 95% increase in enrollment at ACC among Lockhart residents the first fall semester after annexation. This January, the college opened its first facility in downtown Lockhart to expand short-term workforce training opportunities.
As the primary Central Texas workforce trainer, ACC has boosted the local economy, Lowery-Hart said. A 2026 Trellis Strategies study estimates that joining ACC’s taxing district has a $6 return for every $1 spent, or a $2.6 billion annual impact on the Central Texas economy. Trellis Strategies is a research firm that does economic analysis for colleges and universities at no charge.
Skeptics
Still, several people who spoke at Thursday’s Pflugerville town hall were skeptical of the ballot measure. Terry Newsom, a Pflugerville resident, asked if the college would add a campus to the city and if ACC could share how much federal aid reduces the average students’ cost to attend. Another community member said that affordability has become a challenge in the city, and residents are facing steeper taxes from Travis County and greater insurance rates after 2025 flooding.
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Chris Cervini, vice chancellor for community and government affairs, said if the measure is approved, the college would start teaching at school district sites and eventually consider opening a campus, as it did in Lockhart.
Several others spoke about the importance ACC would have in the community, particularly as job needs rapidly change. Rachel Hampton, who leads Central Texas Youth Alliance, described a Pflugerville resident she knows who had to work multiple jobs to support a child and could not access education because it was unaffordable.
“What she told me over and over again is that she wants more for herself and now her kid,” Hampton said. “This is that chance.”
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Lowery-Hart said ACC predicts educational attainment would increase significantly if annexation passes because Pflugerville ISD high school graduates will become eligible for free tuition.
ACC trustees could vote as soon Aug. 3 on adding the measure to the November ballot.