Colorado voters were rejecting Proposition 119, an increase to the state's retail marijuana sales tax, as well as the other two statewide measures in Tuesday's election, according to the first round of unofficial results.

The other two measures, Proposition 120 and Amendment 78, called for a reduction in property tax assessment rates and a requirement for all state spending to go through the Colorado legislature, respectively.

Voters were rejecting Proposition 119 by 54.23% to 45.77%; Proposition 120 by 42.74% to 57.26%; and Amendment 78 (which requires 55% of the vote to pass) by 57.18% to 42.82%, as of 7:49 p.m.

Proposition 119 calls for a 5-percentage-point increase on the state's 15% sales tax for retail marijuana by 2024 (starting with a 3% rate increase in 2022 and 4% in 2023). The money raised would go toward out-of-school enrichment programs with a priority on kids from low-income households. It has both bipartisan support and opposition.

An additional $20 million a year would also go toward funding the new program from the Colorado Land Board Trust, according to a Common Sense Institute report, though the exact number could fluctuate depending on state land revenue.

A new nine-member state agency would distribute the funding, which can be used for a variety of after-school programming, including tutoring.

Proponents have said it will allow all children access to resources they otherwise would not have been able to afford and would help close achievement gaps that have widened even more during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Opponents, however, argue that the measure would take away money that should be going to public schools and would increase already high marijuana taxes, and they say the plans lack transparency for how dollars would be spent.

Proposition 120 and Amendment 78 are backed by conservative political group Colorado Rising State Action. Proposition 120 calls for cutting the residential tax assessment rate from 7.15% to 6.5% and commercial property tax assessment rate from 29% to 26.4%, with backers saying it will save an average of $1 billion annually.

It's complicated, though, because the Democratic-majority Colorado legislature passed bipartisan SB21-293 this year in an attempt to thwart the measure by approving $200 million in property tax cuts for two years and changing the tax code classifications from two categories to six. Opponents of the proposed measure argued that a permanent tax cut would negatively affect local governments, special districts and services residents rely on, and say with the passage of their bill, the ballot measure won't do what proponents are promising.

By the time the bill became law, it was too late for Colorado Rising State Action to make the change in the ballot language to the outdated tax categories, so if Amendment 78 passes, Executive Director Michael Fields said he intends to sue to ensure the most recent measure is what takes effect.

Amendment 78 has a higher threshold for passage since it's a constitutional change. It will require the state legislature to sign off on all state "custodial money," money that comes from outside the state government, including federal emergency funds, money from legal settlements and grants.

Proponents of the measure say this will create better oversight of all money spent and will not allow the governor or attorney general, for example, to spend the money without approval. But opponents argue it will delay funding in emergencies and could hurt local communities by adding another layer of bureaucracy. A lawsuit to invalidate the measure was unsuccessful.