The people of the Federation valued taxes highly, because taxes occupied a very important place in their lives.
Under the usual tax rates of the past, at least twenty to thirty dollars out of every hundred belonged to the various levels of the Federal Government.
The lower classes already had very limited earning power, and they still had to pay so much in taxes. Naturally, they cared deeply about where that money was being spent--
Because when the Federal Government took that money from them, it had told them that the money would ultimately be used for their benefit.
To improve their living environment, to improve eldercare, to improve the medical system, to...
In short, it was all used for their own benefit. That was one of the reasons people could accept the Federation's relatively high tax rates.
They firmly believed that the money would ultimately be spent on them. It was equivalent to taking out part of their own money and investing it directly in their material conditions. Thinking of it that way made it seem acceptable.
So whenever someone was found to be wasting money, taxpayers would become furious. Even the use of premium coffee beans in the Presidential Palace's break room was unacceptable to them. They would interfere with that, too!
Because it would make them feel that the Federal Government was devouring their wealth. Their money had to be spent on themselves, not turned into coffee beans for the masters to drink before pissing it all away! The Shelter Alliance's proposal this time to stop paying taxes to the Federal Government, lower the tax rate, and spend the tax revenue on local shelters had actually placed it at a very favorable starting point.
Most ordinary residents could not reject this. They would wholeheartedly support shelter independence!