This is a developing story.
Pima County has yet to certify the results of local ballot measures, but one proposition that would continue funding the Sahuarita Unified School District is currently hanging on by just 36 votes.
If passed, Prop 428 would renew a maintenance and operations override that uses property taxes to fund athletics, arts, physical education and counseling services in the district.
Manuel Valenzuela is in his 17th year as superintendent. He said variations of an override have been approved by voters since the 1980s. The current version, passed in 2022, is helping fund more than 100 staff positions across departments.
“Overrides are opportunities for local communities to make local investments above and beyond the base level of support from the state,” Valenzuela said.
Arizona schools are funded by the state on a per-pupil basis. The state is ranked last in that category by the National Education Association, which identifies the average student receives about $12,000 a year.
The average Sahuarita homeowner — whose property value is estimated at around $211,000 — pays $23 in property taxes toward the district now. That wouldn’t change with the renewal of the override.
“It will just be a continuation. We've tried to make that really clear to our community. And yet at the same time, we do understand that people have choices to make and that they have a lot of considerations,” Valenzuela said.
He suspects the increased cost of living in Arizona may have caused nearly half of Sahuarita voters to select “No” on Prop 428 in attempts to make savings wherever they can.
The current override passed in 2022 by about 1,400 votes, or 56%. If this year’s measure ends up not passing, the money would run out by 2030. But Sahuarita district officials have backup plans in case it’s unsuccessful.
“What I would anticipate is, if it were to not pass, that we would re-engage with the community and the board would reconsider its options,” Valenzuela said. “One of those options would be to revisit this in the spring and to continue to communicate clarity and to put it on the ballot for consideration again next year.”
The town of Sahuarita has grown almost 12% since 2020, according to the World Population Review. In 2020, there were 5,880 students in the school district.
More than 6,000 students were enrolled in the district last school year, marking a 5% increase in the last five years.
Current election results show voters approving the continuation of an override in Vail by 64% and in the Tanque Verde school district by 56%.
