Thanks for your thoughts on how taxes impact new players. As one who advocates 'All of the taxes, all of the time' it's helpful for me to see the other perspective.
But let me share some thoughts about the benefits of in-game taxes...
While some of the taxes do provide certain benefits to larger cities, they also tax the larger cities (same percentage, bigger city, more taxes paid).
In addition, every tax provides a net benefit of removing SIM inflation. Lower inflation means long-term earnings will be more stable, which boosts ALL players (your cards hold value better).
RE: dCity - Week 2 Update: Taxation without Representation