Matthew Gunn: Vote no on tax measure

I am baffled that our town is in debt when only a few years ago we had a $3 million surplus. Now we are $5 million in debt.

A few years ago, I was proud of our City Council for its ability to manage money so well when the rest of the nation was in financial crisis. Apparently, we were fooled, or somebody didn't do the math right.

Now we are having a special election Tuesday to raise taxes, but that is not the answer. I, along with the majority of California residents, just voted to increase state taxes.

I just paid my Atwater utility bill and noticed that it just went up starting in February. We pay taxes out of our personal paycheck, at the gas pump, at the store, to go to national and state parks, even to cross certain bridges.

Enough is enough. I am voting no. My parents taught me to live within my means.

Apparently Atwater didn't learn this lesson. There is no better time than now to exercise this simple philosophy.

MATTHEW GUNN

Atwater