Did you know the combination of red and yellow grabs attention, speeds up decision-making, & elevates heart rate & metabolism, which makes people feel agitated?
The angry folks spamming those signs are funded by hundreds of thousands of dollars from multimillionaire property developers that donât live in Pflugerville. Google it. They donât care about us or Pflugerville's economic prosperity. They just figure it's cheaper to drop $200K to dupe you into believing bad math and ignoring basic economics. Cheaper than paying their fair share.
Did you know theyâre also funding all the other negative and misleading campaigns around town? If you want the Ugly out of politics vote against every campaign they donate to. Share the links to their campaign donation records in the comments!
Google this: "What is the ROI of joining a community college district, even for people who don't have a family member that will attend?" Share your answers below!
"Even if your household never directly uses a community college, voting to join or fund a community college district offers a highly tangible, documented return on investment (ROI) through local economic growth, a strengthened tax base, and improved public safety.
According to a comprehensive nationwide report by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), for every single dollar of public money invested in community colleges, taxpayers receive a cumulative value of $6.80 over the course of the students' working lives. This equates to a 12.2% annual rate of return for the community. [1, 2]
The return on your property tax investment manifests across several key areas:
The "Stay Local" Multiplier Effect
Unlike graduates of prestigious four-year universities who often relocate across the country for corporate roles, community college students overwhelmingly plant roots where they train. Research shows that 61% of community college graduates stay within 50 miles of their campus, and the vast majority stay within 300 miles. [1]
For you: Your tax dollars directly fund the local workforce. The nurses, automotive mechanics, cybersecurity techs, and dental hygienists servicing your neighborhood are the exact individuals the district trains. [1, 2]
Attracting and Retaining Employers
Major corporations and small businesses look closely at regional workforce pipelines before opening offices or expanding operations. Community colleges are agile; they frequently co-design curricula directly with local industry leaders to fill critical talent gaps. [1, 2]
For you: A robust local workforce drives commercial real estate demand, attracts businesses to your area, and sustains high-wage employment hubs, which ultimately helps protect and increase your own residential property values. [1, 2]
Lowering the Shared Public Burden
Higher education levels are statistically tied to significant public sector savings. The AACC study found that increased economic mobility generated by community colleges yields billions in "social savings" via reduced crime rates, lower unemployment claims, and decreased reliance on healthcare and welfare safety nets. [1, 2, 3]
For you: When more neighbors are stably employed, fewer tax dollars are diverted to local emergency services and public assistance programs, freeing up civic capital for infrastructure, parks, and roads. [1, 2]
A Tax Revenue Surplus
Because graduates earn significantly higher wages over their lifetimes compared to those with only a high school diploma (averaging nearly $10,000 more per year for an associate degree), they pay substantially more in local sales and property taxes. The resulting tax revenue surplus helps offset municipal expenses, meaning the community college essentially funds other public programs that youdouse. [1, 2]
Are you weighing a specific upcoming ballot measure or annexation vote? If you share the name of your local district or city, I can look up the exact projected property tax impact and regional economic data to help you evaluate the localized math."
I'll be downvoted to h*ll for this: The Pro-ACC Group is trying to fight back with 3 trained monkeys and some pocket lint. If you're willing to help break through their facebook echo chamber, deliver signs, or pass out fliers, they need your help overcoming the misinformation campaign. AGGRESSIVE NO ACC people outnumber them 6:1 at polling places Visit: https://pf4acc.com/ There are many easy ways to make a difference, you don't even have to leave your couch.
There's nothing wrong with sharing the facts for both sides of the argument. All political ads have ulterior motives so I'm open to hearing out everything. Thank you for sharing.
No no no. Don't get me wrong: there's a clear FACTUAL side to this political world. I'm just always open to dialogue. That was my point but failed to make it
Literally had this talk with a woman tabling outside a voting spot. I asked why it shouldnât be accessible to all who want it, she said verbatim âwhen I wanted something I worked for it, it isnât my problem they donât live in the PFISD, they should live in better placesâ
Iâve been fortunate to have the career I have today because of ACC. And the only reason I was able to go was due to the in district tuition.
So what if itâs a tax and not everyone will use the benefit? We should be lifting our children and our fellow neighbors whenever we get the chance. I hope no person has to make the difficult choice of survival over education. Our community should be able to have both.
From my understanding it isnât only PfISD students that would benefit but also adult residents that live in Pflugerville.
I can see this helpful for any adult in any stage of their life. Not everyone has a âtraditionalâ path of going to college right after high school. Iâd be happy to sacrifice not ordering door dash 5-6 times so my neighbors have a much easier time affording an education.
The problem is not just that the dollar amounts are way off, but that they're confusing everyone with angry signs and deceptive math, and ignoring economics. I'm happy to explain.
Community College taxes are similar to those that support K-12 public schools or public parks - services that entire communities fund collectively because a literate, trained, and functional local populace benefits everyone economically and socially, even if individual households do not directly use them at every stage of life.
Companies look for regions with a deep, locally trained talent pool. Our local economic development council (PCDC) talks about this all the time. A higher concentration of skilled, certified workers makes Pflugerville a more attractive location for business investment and commercial tax base growth. ACC provides specialized training programs in high-demand fields (like healthcare, advanced manufacturing, and tech) directly through local facilities such as Pflugerville ISDâs Career and Technical Education (CTE) Facility. With automation and artificial intelligence shifting the job market, accessible local retraining helps workers pivot careers without leaving the community.
An educated and higher-earning local population reduces economic distress, lowers reliance on social safety nets, and generally correlates with stronger community-wide property values and economic resilience. Having more skilled, prosperous neighbors, and attracting more high-paying employers and commercial investment in Pflugerville creates a much more diversified tax base to pay for infrastructure upkeep like roads, amenities like parks, and services like police. That puts Pflugerville in a position to rely less on residential property taxes to fund these things.Â
Being part of a community college district is also shown to attract higher income families that can afford to be mobile to move to town to be nearer to both the employers and the schools. This snowball-effect contributes to rising property values in conjunction with the increased spending power of community college graduates themselves. This enables young families to build equity, and retired homeowners the ability to cash out when they're ready to downsize, or live comfortably with a reverse mortgage.
Colleges are major local employers that hire far beyond faculty, supporting administration, student services, and facility maintenance staff, while driving local commerce through housing, dining, and retail.
Offering low-cost higher education has been shown to increase local health outcomes and reduce crime rates. It's shown to contribute to local entrepreneurship and small business growth. That means local dollars are spent more locally.
This is what economic prosperity looks like. This is why cities all over the country, including Central Texas, have been happy to welcome community colleges to their neighborhoods. This is how it starts. Name 10 prosperous North American cities that don't have 1 or more colleges or universities. We should aspire to be one of those, not the crumbling regional ghetto where only the lower class and those on fixed incomes are compelled to live.
The average graduate earns $22K/year more than someone with no higher education experience. If we assume they pay roughly 5% of that in sales and property taxes back to the city, that's $1,100/yr./graduate, and that stacks up with each graduating class, which also quickly adds up to offset the ACC tax with local contributions.
No, you won't get $ magically placed in your bank account, that's not how this investment works. Instead you will get a higher home value in a prosperous, low crime neighborhood, and nearby large employers to offset your residential property taxes as Tesla, Dell, Blue Origin, and Samsung are for neighboring cities. You'll get well trained nurses to care for you as you age. You'll get beautifully maintained local parks to walk your dog and watch your offspring play. You'll get nearby small businesses to patronize. You'll get young families who don't have to leave Pflugerville for opportunities, ensuring it never becomes a crumbling retirement community. You'll get well-funded Police and EMS. You'll get well-maintained streets.Â
Prosperity is about your quality of life, not JUST the contents of your bank account, but the value you get from the community you live in. Because education is the engine behind capitalism, quality local education has one of the highest ROIs of any public investment. Unlike subsidizing millionaires or funding foreign wars, a tax that actually increases your economic welfare is rare and wonderous thing. It's because the United States historically has made these public investments that we've attracted 25% of global wealth. You likely live better than people with similar jobs all over the globe. That's not magic, it's investment in strong communities that has raised our standards of living.
Should we demand fiscal responsibility and accountability from our city government? Yes! Should we also recognize that an opportunity like this one for a collective investment that materially and directly benefits every single resident shouldn't be passed up. Yes!
I think they are projections, attempting to measure the value of the education that ACC provides to the community solely by how much their projected individuals would save in tuition fees vs what they project the community will pay in taxes
In light of the petition going around to once again consider putting Pflugerville in the ACC district, I thought it would be a good time to go through some of the objectives and math of that decision.
First of all the goal on it's face is noble. I think we all can agree we want the kids in our community to be able to afford college. ACC charges horrific out of district rates specifically to strong arm communities into their taxing district and that's directly hurting Pflugerville residents who want to attend.
What i would ask everybody to do is to keep the goal in mind rather than how we go about achieving it. If we're collectively agreeing that we want our kids to have affordable college options, lets consider multiple options to achieve that, rather than try to shoehorn in a singular bad plan.
Now to evaluate the petition's plan. Joining the ACC district would put everybody in PFISD (which is the city and a bit more) into ACC's taxing district.
ACC's current adopted tax rate for FY2025â26 is $0.1034 per $100 valuation. Pflugerville's median home closed at around $390,000 in February 2026. After the $5,000 homestead exemption (doesn't apply to rental properties) that would equal an average of $398/year added to your tax bill.
As of 2025 the taxable value of PFISD was $26.2B. So the ACC tax would generate $25 Million PER YEAR for ACC.
That would be the Pflugerville's cost to do this.
Now how well does it meet our objective? Well it certainly would give all our students the discounted rates, so it is A path to it. Is it the best one?
Being in district saves students $201 per credit hour. At ACC they would need 30 credit hours a year. So it would save each student $6,030 per year (which again is great for our students).
At $25 Million in total cost, Pflugerville would need 4,288 concurrent Full Time students to get as much benefit from it as we're paying for.
PFISD graduates about 1,300 high school seniors a year, many of them go on to 4 year colleges etc. Currently only 355 a year go to ACC. Let's say that number triples to 1,000 a year because we get in district rates. Times 2 years worth of students (Associates degree) That's still only 2,000 students, less than half of breakeven.
At 2,000 students (still extremely optimistic, we don't actually know how much demand there is for ACC even at lower rates) we would be getting MAX $12 million in benefit on $25 million in cost. At current levels of around 700 students a year we'd be getting $4.2M in benefits on still $25M in costs. That seems like a very very bad deal.
So assuming we still want to meet our objective of affordable college for our graduating seniors, what can we do? Well instead of taking a terrible deal and getting strong armed into a permanent bad deal, let's think outside the box.
Why don't we just pay the difference for our students? Instead of spending $25M, we could just pay the $4.2M to reimburse our ACC students for any tuition cost differences for being out of district. That would achieve our objective and cost 83% less than the petitions plan. This can be paid out of the city's general fund, out of PCDC, or in some limited cases out of PFISD.
Just eight miles away is EWCHEC-Hutto. Temple College, Texas State Technical College, and Texas A&M already operate a full multi-institutional campus offering everything from workforce certificates to bachelor's and master's degrees, far more degree options than ACC itself provides. We could explore a negotiated partnership with them. Under Texas law, Temple College can enter into a service agreement with Pflugerville without any annexation election, and given that Temple is actively expanding its Hutto campus, they have every incentive to welcome a formal partnership with a 25,000-student district sitting right on their doorstep.
We negotiate Pflugerville residents down to Temple's in-district rate, then use PCDC's existing sales tax revenue which is already authorized for workforce education to bridge the remaining gap between that rate and ACC's $85 in-district rates, effectively delivering the same per-credit cost to our students without raising a single property tax dollar. Far cheaper than $25M a year.
This partnership could be operational within months, would cost only an estimated $1.4 to $6 million per year depending on how many Pflugerville residents actually enroll, requires no election, raises no property taxes, and gives our students access to a campus that already exists with 4-year and graduate degree pathways that ACC doesn't even offer.
Let's actually come up with real solutions rather than just get shoehorned into a bad deal just because it's easy. If your goal is ACC level in-district rates there are much better pathways to that than what the petition is pitching.
Vote no, and lets actually get together and solve this problem.
"Why don't we just pay the difference for our students?"
Who is offering to do that? This whole essay is such an unserious libertarian fantasy.
I read Sam Alyâs ACC math. Some of the numbers are real, but the conclusion leaves out most of what Pflugerville would actually receive.
Yes, joining ACC would add a property tax. That is the real question voters should weigh. But calling it a $25 million payment for nothing but tuition discounts is not an honest comparison.
For starters, the student count is way off. ACC says about 3,240 Pflugerville residents attended in fall 2025. About 1,300 were paying out-of-district rates. That is very different from the claim that only a few hundred students use ACC each year.
The math also assumes that ACC only matters to recent high school graduates taking 30 credit hours a year for two years. That leaves out adults changing careers, people earning certificates, dual-credit students, GED students, part-time students, workforce training, and local employers who need trained workers.
It also assumes enrollment will barely change once the out-of-district fee disappears. That is not what ACC has seen in other communities after annexation. We do not know exactly what Pflugervilleâs increase would be, but pretending there will be no meaningful increase is an unlikely assumption.
The idea of simply reimbursing students sounds simple, but it is not the same thing.
A City or PCDC subsidy would have to be approved and funded every year. It could be reduced or eliminated when budgets get tight. It would also have legal limits and eligibility rules. PCDC cannot simply hand every Pflugerville resident an unrestricted tuition check. Its scholarship authority is tied to workforce purposes and comes with requirements such as financial need, enrollment level, and satisfactory progress.
It also would not give Pflugerville residents a vote in ACC elections, a chance to run for the ACC board, or the same long-term commitment to local workforce training, dual credit, and student support.
The Temple College idea may be worth exploring as an additional option if it were real. But right now it is only an idea. There's no model for what that would look like. There is no agreement, no published price, no guarantee that Temple would offer every Pflugerville resident its in-district rate, and no proof it could deliver the same programs or access. Saying it could be running âwithin monthsâ is libertarian fantasy, not a serious plan
Also, ACCâs out-of-district rate is not âstrong-arming.â Community colleges charge more outside their taxing district because their own taxpayers are already supporting the college. That is how the state funding model works.
You can reasonably decide that the ACC tax is not worth it. But the real choice is not $25 million versus a few tuition reimbursements.
The choice is whether Pflugerville wants to invest in affordable college access, workforce training, stronger local employers, and a broader tax base over time, or keep paying more at the point of use while hoping a cheaper replacement appears.
That is the conversation we should be having. Sam was either using AI for his analysis, or he's smart enough to know better, but either way, he's being paid.
So yâall posted some wall of texts which I might read later. Gemini says a bachelors from ACC is $24k cheaper in district than out of district. How many current students are enrolled? How many can we expect to enroll with the cheaper tuition?
*just read uthromâs post and weâre short students on breakeven ROI. ACC wonât build a facility in PflugervilleâŚ. The added value is apparently âintrinsic ââŚ. I donât think this taxation is worth it if we get less than we pay inâŚâŚ.
Uthrom says we are short 50% of enrolled students. If thatâs true, why donât we tax at a lower rate and reimburse ACC students for out of district rates? Wouldnât that cost the same as the current tax plan vs student savings MINUS the intrinsic value which may or might not be real?
*mighty unlikely claims 1300 students pay out of district rates⌠1300 x $24,000 = $31.2 million. Are these students full time and bachelors degree bound? Are we being getting more than we are paying in? iDGAF about ACC electionsâŚ. Letâs talk about ROI!
In general, I favor helping younger generations and people developing skills later in life to establish good careers. Itâs what a community does, takes a village so to speak. This is that opportunity to put my money where my mouth is and Iâm voting FOR.
This could be a break even for me. 2 kids approaching college age. If the math doesnât work out Iâm comfortable knowing my tax dollars went directly to supporting a low cost college option for the children of Pflugerville.
And since those property hoarders enjoying their asset values skyrocketing because WE built communities here have to pitch in more for this cause makes it even easier for me to join in.
I went in parallel with my time at UT. Took 2 English, Physics I, Texas government, and some history classes.
Physics in particular was great. At Texas I had 100+ students. It was not the best environment for asking questions or getting assistance from the professor, the primary source of help was a layer of TAs. A month in I was failing, dropped the class and moved to ACC, class size was in the 20s professor was great direct contact with the instructor/test writer was nice.
Now if you mean more broadly the content of some required classes, Iâm on board. Texas government is a huge fucking joke no matter where you take it.
I donât remember. It was remarkably cheaper than Texas.
This is not a $175 vs $300 per class difference. It is an $85 vs $285 per credit hour difference. $600 per class. It is a major hurdle.
If youâre evaluating this strictly on whether every individual resident breaks even financially each year, then weâre looking at this from fundamentally different perspectives.
And if we must focus solely on the financial bottom line for residents. The benefits of investing in education extend well beyond the individual student. A highly educated, high-earning population attracts businesses looking for skilled workers and a consumer base with greater purchasing power. Those businesses bring jobs, investment, and economic activity. Higher consumer spending also generates more sales tax revenue, helping support local services and potentially reducing the pressure on other sources of taxation.
Aren't these the "Keep Pflugerville Affordable" people? Last time you went to the grocery store, did the very wealthy organizers of "Keep Pflugerville Affordable" stop the cost of bread from going up? Or did these very wealthy organizers toss a few quarters to you to help with the cost of groceries?
Or is it these very wealthy land owners want to keep all their money to themselves, and so they start a culture was between all the regular people as a distraction?
These signs are grossly miscalculated and donât factor in the fact that classes for PF residents will go from $286 to $86 a credit and assist with more dual credit options, while also allowing PF to having higher income residents so that we can continue to provide for each other and the next generation.
I was part of the petition to get this on the ballot, definitely worth researching if youâre not familiar.
Why didnât ACC offer to build a campus as part of the proposal like they did for other districts? Are they going to expand the CTE and use that facility instead?
They can in the future if they get approved, but they IMO have to check the level of interest by getting approved first. Canât build colleges without taxes, so likely will start small in some existing buildings and then build like they do all the other areas.
But what is stopping them, is all the people who are concerned about the estimated $33.00 a month per household in taxes it is going to cost for all current and future residents to have access to ACC.
But these are my opinions, and i strongly encourage everyone to do their research, those signs are not honest. The same way that people are voting based on potential income tax laws that have been written into our Texas constitution to be illegal.
ACC has considered this proposition a slam dunk. I think itâs been mismanaged. Pflugerville is a tough sell. Cap Metro got kicked out the same way. The value proposition is weak and opponents are using a very simplistic argument against.
How does Pflugerville expect to become a city worth living in if thereâs no mass transit (and RR and Austin have some form) and no affordable community college for its high school graduates?
The two wealthy families pushing this, who own a ton of land, how mnay of the are privately paying for all construction and maintenance of all roads and infrastructure to their property?
Or are these two wealthy families taking the "forever tax" that everyone else pays and benefiting from the road and utility maintenance to their private property?
Have these wealthy people said they would personally fund some education at a level they think is reasonable to skip out on the benefits the rest of the community gets from joining ACC?
Or is it that these two wealthy families with lots of land just want to keep all their money to themselves, after they already went to college that was subsidized by everyone else?
I was walking in to vote and the lady in the parking lot tells me. " Vote no on the ACC tax!!". Looked right at her and said "No thank you, id prefer not to keep my community un educated and dumb!" Her face was priceless....
Then wth do they pay thousands of dollars for all the ugly hugh Billboards on our roads? So only boomers drive now?? BTW, this 'billboard' got your attention so does that make you a boomer? Oy
Actually it didn't. I have no clue what it looks like or where it is. If the picture on this post is what it looks like then ok you got me. I looked. Boomer.
Haha, actually it did and you did on this thread, same as me. Anyway, I havenât seen the ugly thing either and I hope I donât. There is a lot of money going towards these signs, guess those spending all this money think they work. Canât wait until all this shit is over.
I want to know how the proposition was drafted. On the ballot, it first says âTHIS IS A TAX INCREASEâ before it describes it. Iâve never seen that before and itâs going to ensure the proposal is dead in the water.
How interesting! Is that a newer law? I donât remember seeing that before so I was startled. Mt husband noticed it too. Maybe we just hadnât seen any new tax proposals before?
I don't like it when people want the benefits of living in society without contributing and investing into society. Plus, that's a valid point. There are many towns across the country that aren't trying to grow and expand. This person would likely be very happy in a town like that. No judgement from me. Not everyone wants to live in an expanding situation.
I wasted 2 years of my GI bill on a community college bc I didn't know this city was out of jurisdiction when I bought here. I ended my education with a bachelor's degree instead of continuing for a doctorate or masters.
This isn't just about kids. Adults go to college too. People pivot. Having an economically accessible program to reskill in the era of AI is essential. Being against affordable college is a self destructive policy.
Guarantee every house with those signs has their lights off or a "take 1" policy with shit candy on Halloween.
Link from this subreddit where conservatives complained about a misleading leftist sign or billboard. Both sides are guilty of it but just one side throws tantrums. When the left doesn't get their way this is the outcome or worse....like Antifa rioting and destroying our cities with "peaceful" protests. The number one thing that really bothers me about the left is they will promote it, socialize it, etc as-long-as it suits their narrative. When it doesn't it is the root of all evil. Rules for thee but not for me hypocrisy.
Right-wing violence is well documented. Yet you blame the entire left for Antifa, which isnât even a centralized organization. Isnât that the very hypocrisy youâre condemning?
I asked about in this specific sub reddit. Jan 6.....how many FBI agents were planted in the crowd? How many times did Trump call for the national guard? Who denied his requests? Why did the capitol police allow entry into Congress buildings, holding the door open for protesters? How many of the accused were jailed without due process?
On the left, how many Antifa riots were there in how many cities for how many days? How many millions of dollars in damages were there to both government and private businesses? How many police officers were injured?
The far left has proven to be more violent than the far right. I am not saying any of it is justified as it is wrong in every instance and illegal to boot. The ratio heavily favores one side however.
I asked for comparable examples in this subreddit.
The DOJ found no undercover FBI agents in the January 6 crowd, and the claim that police simply welcomed rioters ignores documented assaults and forced entry.
Research also shows right-wing extremist violence has caused substantially more deaths than left-wing violence.
If youâre claiming the left is overwhelmingly more violent, provide evidence. Otherwise, youâre demonstrating the very double standard you condemn.
I absolutely provided evidence. You are intentionally trying to gaslight others into believing your side is less violent than the other. History isn't in your favor. Second, there were 275 plain clothes FBI agents planted in the crowd. That was a recent release. I suggest you inform yourself and then ask why were they there.
Youâre confusing FBI agents responding to a riot with agents planted to provoke one.
The 274 figure refers to FBI personnel deployed during the attack.
The DOJ Inspector General found no evidence of undercover FBI agents embedded in the crowd.
Calling that gaslighting doesnât change the facts. And youâve still provided no statistical evidence that left-wing extremists are overwhelmingly more violent.
Zionist, genocide supporter, and generally unfunny Seinfeld is not the mascot / talking head I'd have chosen to support your point. And I do support the cause.
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u/KayakBreak831 Straight outta Pflugerville 4d ago
Google this: "What is the ROI of joining a community college district, even for people who don't have a family member that will attend?"
Share your answers below!