As someone who regularly participates in local politics I assure you, this is incredibly still a thing. Every last measure receives vehement criticism from the older cohort of our city because they're certain it will mean a tax increase. We have to explain over, and over, and over again that the projects we're voting on were budgeted in over a year ago, and that money is already allocated.
Most accept this. Some stay mad but just quietly vote no (and are usually outvoted). A minority say if we have money for this then we should be cutting taxes.
Like it's stereotypical I grant you but stereotypes aren't made up in an office somewhere, Severance style. An unfortunate number of the old among us want nothing going to anyone who isn't them, and I fully accept, an amount of that is coming from people who are living on a fixed income, and I have empathy for that. A lot of it is also just coming from people who have sour grapes about only having a 17 foot boat instead of the 19 foot one they wanted, and see our parks and beautification projects as the reason they couldn't have it. Not only is it often BS, it's just anti-social. Like I'm sorry you're apparently too out of shape to enjoy a bike trail, but we have a whole ton of other people who aren't, and putting every measure of improving our city on a menu for you to select which ones you're comfortable paying for is simply not practical.
My entire life my taxes have gone to pay for things that don't benefit me. It's just part of living in a society.
Maybe in another 20 years. We were putting in an elevated light rail system above the highway, but no, it got blocked everywhere outside of the downtown core because “it looked ugly”. Nevermind that it was over a highway.
At some point this stops becoming an actual thing, and just becomes an internet boogeyman.