One example of a clear connection between a sales tax and public goods and services is a gas tax. It doesn't work perfectly, especially given advances in vehicl

One example of a clear connection between a sales tax and public goods and services is a gas tax. It doesn't work perfectly, especially given advances in vehicle efficiency and electric vehicles, but it used to pretty reliably charge people for road maintenance based on their usage. It was also a regressive tax, because poorer people spend more of their income on purchases like gas. "Orthodox propagandizing from economics" has come up with some things that you might not immediately think of when reasoning from first principles.