Annexation lawsuit may halt

In the midst of a lawsuit between a Kyle resident and ACC, a judge has ruled that the plaintiff, Ray Wolbrecht, must pay $3 million in bonds in order to keep the lawsuit going, according to the Hays Free Press.

Because of Wolbrecht's continuation in the case, the college has requested that he cover the bond in order to pay for "any damages or increased costs to ACC and its taxpayers caused by his continued participating in the case, which would have the effect of delaying further the issuance of debt needed to construct the Hays Campus," ACC attorney Coppy Caputo, told the Hays Free Press.

On Dec. 10, Wolbrecht filed a lawsuit against ACC relating to their terms of annexation in Hays County, arguing that the college was unclear about the property tax rate voters would face.

Last November, residents from Hays County voted in favor of allowing Hays Consolidated Independent School District to be annexed into ACC's taxing district. The annexation would raise the property tax in the district to about 9.5 cents per $100 of property valuation.

Wolbrecht is seeking to have the election voided because the college failed to publish the maximum allowed tax rate of $1.00 per $100 of property valuation in their service plan, according to Wolbrecht and his attorney, Mark Cusack.

The lawsuit, which could cost ACC millions of dollars, has had repercussions on the funding for ACC expansions.

"ACC planned to use Build America Bonds - federally-subsidized loans for governmental entities – which is a program that expired Dec. 31," said Caputo.

"Bonds must be approved prior to issuance by the attorney general's office, and bonds for Hays Campus could not be approved while a lawsuit was pending."

According to Caputo, ACC was unaware of the lawsuit until December 13, three days after it was filed.

"As a result, there was insufficient time to resolve the lawsuit, have bonds approved by the attorney general, and close on the bonds before the program ended."

If the court rules in favor of the college, ACC and the Public Facility Corporation will continue as planned to finance the Hays Campus using tax-exempt bonds.

"ACC is disappointed that the lawsuit will have repercussions on the community and taxpayers in the form of higher borrowing costs, and a possibly scaled-back first phase of campus construction. But we are committed to defending the will of the voters of Hays CISD and to bringing them all the programs and services laid out in the Hays CISD service plan," said Caputo.

Currently, ACC has contracted 96 acres of land in the Plum Creek business district of Kyle. The college plans to open the campus in August 2013.