That is what a tax is and how it is levied. The people in the town agreed via voting to levy the tax so that we could all collectively benefit. I am sure some people disagreed but that is democracy.
Democracy is a justification actually. That is the point of the system. If you want a different one, good luck but so far no one has been able to beat democracy. Personally sometimes I get what I want and sometimes I don't. Democracy is a compromise.
You are conflating the validity of a political process with the validity of an economic process. Saying that 51% can rob 49% and that is fine both in justice or economic terms means that you have no capacity to argue against anything but the number of votes. IT truly destroys your position to say that the only right thing is the result of a poll.
But lets say I go down this path with you, one that is not only not how democracies work, but a reprehensible if it were. Lets put it up to a poll then. Lets vote for all these issues and see what happens. The results might surprise you. I have seldom if ever seen a vote for a tax increase to pass popular support.
Democracy is not a justification for payment. 51% can vote to rob the other 49%.