Since voters did not approve the tax override Tuesday, the Tombstone Unified School District will not be able to expand academic support programs and extracurricular activities as hoped next year.

The tax override was voted against by 53 percent of voters, while 44 percent voted in favor of the measure.

“We’re going to have to keep moving forward,” said Karl Uterhardt, Tombstone Unified School District superintendent. “It is going to put financial restraints on us. We won’t be able to put in the programs we wanted for the kids.”

The district planned to use the tax override to offer students programs and activities that are not being funded through the state budget including offering art and music programs at each school, developing a gifted education program and expanding the early childhood education.

“The kids are the ones that are suffering,” Uterhardt said. “It’s sad for me, but it’s ultimately sad for the students we have. These are programs that they would have benefited from and I think they would have liked. It’s unfortunate that some voters choose not to support us.”

It’s unknown how this decision will affect next year’s school budget, but no programs are at risk to be cut at this time.

“I’m not talking cuts at this point,” Uterhardt said. “But I will tell you that I don’t know what the state is going to do with its budget. It’s really difficult to foresee that. We have a huge state deficit. Who knows what they are going to do?”

The tax override would have generated around $400,000 for the district through a property tax increase. Though the tax would be determined by the value of the property, Uterhardt said that the cost for majority of property owners would have less than $6 a month..

A home valued at $101,000 would have its property tax increased approximately $5.82 per month for a total annual increase of about $70 a year.

“It’s unfortunate that a small amount money individually could have effected a large change for the schools and the students,” Uterhardt said. “But we have to move on.”