Updates.

Press release · July 28, 2026

New study: ACC annexation would cost more than seven dollars in new taxes for every dollar of student relief

An analysis of county tax rolls and ACC's own data by Pflugerville Pfamilies Pfirst puts the annexation tax cost at $23 million a year against only $3 million in fee relief, with no expiration date and no evidence that joining the district increases college attendance.

PFLUGERVILLE, Texas — Pflugerville Residents for Responsible Taxation is pointing to a study released this week by Pflugerville Pfamilies Pfirst as confirmation that the ACC annexation measure on the November 2026 ballot is a losing trade for local families.

The study, built from Travis County's certified 2026 appraisal roll and ACC's own published data, measured both sides of the exchange. The tax comes to roughly $23 million a year in new money out of Pflugerville. The benefit, the elimination of ACC's $201 per credit hour out of district fee, is only worth about $3 million a year in relief that students would actually feel. That is more than seven dollars paid for every dollar of benefit.

The benefit is small because most of the problem is already solved

Fewer than 1 percent of district residents attend ACC. Tuition is already free for recent Pflugerville graduates. Dual credit and Early College students already attend without paying any fee at all. Many of the remaining students hold financial aid worth more than the fee this vote would remove.

The cost is large because everyone pays it, forever

There is no sunset clause and no renewal vote. ACC's own presentation puts the cost at $416 a year for a home at the district average, and because the tax is charged on appraised value, the bill grows every time home values rise. At the rates this area has actually seen, the study projects a cumulative cost approaching $1 billion over twenty years. This cost is paid by homeowners and renters through rent increases.

Growth would not close the gap

ACC has said annexation increases college attendance. The study tested that against every comparable community in ACC's own enrollment records and found enrollment growth tracking how fast a town is growing rather than whether it belongs to the district. Hutto has never joined ACC, has never paid the tax, and saw its ACC enrollment climb 89 percent in four years. Even generous growth assumptions leave the imbalance above five to one.

Twenty three million dollars a year, every year, with no end date, to deliver three million dollars of help to a few hundred students who in many cases already attend for free. You do not need an economics degree to see the problem. This is the single worst return on a tax dollar I have seen put in front of Pflugerville voters. Kevin Pakenham, spokesperson, Pflugerville Residents for Responsible Taxation

If the goal is helping local students, we can do that now for a fraction of the money through a scholarship fund and by publicizing the free programs that already exist. You don't need to financially overburden all the people already struggling in order to help students. Kevin Pakenham

Pflugerville voters rejected this same annexation in 2018, when the district's tax base was half its current size. The measure is expected on the ballot in November 2026 pending an August vote by ACC's Board of Trustees.

Pflugerville Residents for Responsible Taxation is a Texas specific purpose political committee focused on promoting responsible governance.
Media contact: Julia Ruiz, 512-632-0579.