[giantg2]

You could. But you see, that's really working as an income tax then, but even less efficiently/equitably because you now need a mechanism and oversight to classify people/households as retired/out of work and that classification may not be taking into account the difference between someone making more money in retirement than others might make while working.

For example, if I'm retired and making 5% annually on $5M dollars, that's more income than many working class people. Why should I get a break on property tax? If it's income tax, then it applies to everyone equally and you don't need special exceptions for people who lost their income since it would automatically remove the need to pay the tax (no income to withhold from).