Phil Parry BBC News

That was the stark alternative after what was consistently described as the "tightest local Government settlement in years" in January's budget.

More than that - local government leaders said the increase of 2.4% for councils in the budget was punitive and there was talk of it marking a new low in relations between Labour at local authority and assembly levels.

In fact councils in Wales have voted for the lowest-ever increases in council tax since it was introduced 15 years ago - 3.75% on average.

The council tax is used to fund public services

And while local authorities in Wales talk of tough decisions to be made, the emphasis is firmly on how efficient they are.

So what could lie behind it all? The mutterings from the assembly government of a cap on increases (not that that word was ever used) of 5%? Or could it be those local elections in May?

Anglesey will see the lowest rise next year for a typical Band D home, 1.5%, �766.80. Less happy though will be householders in Ceredigion or Conwy who face rises of 5%

The view of the pressure group Taxpayers Alliance is that the local elections coming up certainly concentrate minds, and they warn that historically the tax levels rise significantly in the year after the local elections.

"There is a very specific cycle in council tax increases - you often see them being a lot lower before the election then subsequently you get big increases," said Matthew Elliott of the Taxpayers Alliance.

"It is still very difficult for householders," he added.

"The council tax rise is still above inflation of about 2.5%, and there are big increases for households in food and energy bills."

Election

Even Steve Thomas, chief executive of the Welsh Local Government Association said it would be "naive" to say the council elections did not play a part in the level of increases.

Although he added: "Very tough decisions are having to be taken up and down Wales. In Neath-Port Talbot 50 people are about to be re-deployed and of course we don't know the impact of this on schools."

Even so the Conservative opposition still see the overall effect of council tax rises as a big election issue.

The Welsh Conservatives chose Thursday to launch its advertising campaign to highlight what it says are massive rises in council tax bills under Labour since they came to power in Westminster 1997.

According to Tory figures households in average Band D properties are now paying �509 more in council tax than when Labour came to power in 1997 - a rise of 103 per cent.

But local authorities see it very differently - they believe they are battling to maintain services and keep down council taxes.

"It has been the worst assembly settlement we have seen for many years and very tough decisions have followed from that," said Steve Thomas of the WLGA.

And don't forget those increases for households with police precepts and town and community councils bills on top - so now it is just a question of what will happen in the next cycle of council tax announcements with May's local council elections safely out of the way.