Thats what I meant when I wrote "but they only indirectly pay for what they get (the landlord pays it from their rent).". The other poster explained it better

Thats what I meant when I wrote "but they only indirectly pay for what they get (the landlord pays it from their rent).". The other poster explained it better than me, but basically it's too indirect. A renter sees rent go up, but not always why it goes up. We had that happened in our city, where people voted for an exceptional tax increase, which immediately got passed down in rent increases, and then people complained about -that-, not making the obvious link.