Older people who want to pay lower property taxes should be able to downsize into an age-appropriate home that requires less upkeep without having to leave the communities where they raised their families; but they oppose that because they feel entitled to a fixed, unchanging neighborhood character.
If you're 79, living in a mansion, presumably kids have left, and think your taxes are too high, you should probably downsize. I just don't look at an octogenarian standing in front of a 5 bedroom and think "poor him"