I dunno where you live. But here in Ontario, I have seen municipalities absolutely get addicted to development fees to the point that they somehow wreck housing affordability and still cause substantial sprawl. If those development charges were 100% banked in reserve funds, I'd buy that there's no subsidy. But nope, lots of it ends up in general revenue subsidizing current ratepayers. They are all avoiding substantial municipal tax increases through development charges.
As to your argument that the growth ponzi scheme is a myth, the fantastic thing is that we can look at the GTA and see it in action since the suburban 905 and more urban (relatively) 416 are not in the same municipal tax jurisdiction. 905 tax rates are skyrocketing. 416 tax rates are some of the lowest in the province. And the 416 delivers substantially better public services too. Toronto has the largest transit system, largest and most used library system and the largest parks and rec system, not just in the country. But competitive in North America. What Oakville give you in return for five figure property tax bills? That differential actually gets worse for the 905 every year. Especially in places like Mississauga which are running out of land to develop. When there's no cross-subsidy, those taxes go up real fast. This is from 2020:
As an Ottawa resident these days, inside the Greenbelt, I wish this city had never amalgamated. The services I get for what I pay in property taxes are poor value. I would agree with your point that suburbs can be low cost. That's if and only if suburban residents keep their service levels low. But that almost never happens. Especially not in Canada. Folks move to the suburbs and then insist they should have almost the same level of transit, rec services, snow clearing, etc they used to have in the city. That entitlement inevitably leads to subsidization. It's fantastic for 416 residents that their transit system doesn't have to cover the 905 or they'd have shitty services too.