Austin Community College

The Austin Community College (ACC) Board of Trustees is slated to consider on Monday, February 6th whether it will continue offering tax incentives under the City of Austin's Historic Landmarks Program. For 2010 and 2011, the ACC Board voted to suspend historic tax incentives until the program could be reformed. The Austin City Council last month approved a number of these reforms, ensuring that the landmarks program will be stronger and more fiscally sound.

We need your help. Tell the ACC board members that historic preservation is a vital community goal and they must continue to support it. AISD and other taxing jurisdictions all have voted to maintain their participation in the program. It's critical that ACC continue its support of a key incentive that promotes the maintenance and existence of Austin's character and history.

Click here to send a message to all the ACC Trustees

or

Click here to send a message to individual Trustees via Rhonda Fenner

Also, please attend the meeting and let your voice be heard by enrolling to speak during Citizens Communications. You must get on the speakers schedule in advance and will be allowed 3 minutes to speak. See below instructions for getting on the schedule.

ACC Trustees Meeting
Monday, February 6 at 6:00 p.m.
5930 Middle Fiskville Road
2nd Floor Board Room (Room 201)

Getting on Speakers Schedule:
Individuals who wish to speak before the Board should notify Rhonda Fenner at rfenner@austincc.edu in advance. Citizens who are scheduled to address the Board should sign-in prior to the 6:00 meeting, or the declared start time for the meeting. The sign-in sheet is usually available from 5:30-6:00 p.m., in the Board Room, with the Assistant to the Board. For more information regarding citizens' communications, please call 223.7613.

Austin Independent School District

The Heritage Society is pleased to announce that after a year of committed effort, and upon the recommendation of AISD staff and Superintendent Carstarphen, AISD's Board of Trustees voted 8 to 1 (Trustee Schneider opposing) on August 22 to reinstate historic incentives for the 2011-2012 budget year. The reinstatement is at the levels that were in place prior to 2010. However, there is a significant amount of work ahead and we call on you to assist the Heritage Society of Austin in the weeks and months to come.

Please take a moment to send a message to the Trustees to thank them for their vote at Trustees@austinisd.org

To contact an individual trustee, send a message to Elaine.Hopkins@austinisd.org with subject line "For Board Member xxx."

Trustees will be looking to the City of Austin to complete improvements to the Historic Landmark Program that are currently under way. Trustees expect preservationists and landmark owners to work together with AISD and the City to take advantage better of the nexus between preservation and education, which we all know exists. Superintendent Carstarphen and her staff anxiously await our assistance. Our historic fabric, throughout the community, is a valuable educational resource. Please help us as we move forward to this next step. HSA would also like to thank you and others who advocated on behalf of preservation and its value to our community. The collective strength of this organization comes from individuals like you. Thank you!

City of Austin

On August 11, 2011, Austin's City Council passed a resolution that kept a meaningful Landmark program, as well as made some enhancements to the wider preservation program. Read the resolution here.

Travis County

On June 28, 2011, the Travis County Commissioners affirmed the value of preservation to our community by voting to maintain the current Historic Landmark tax incentives for the coming tax year. Rather than putting these historic treasures at risk with interim measures, they instead intend to work together with the City of Austin over the next year to develop an improved landmarks program with thoughtfully structured incentives.