IN THE last couple of weeks, Milford Haven and Haverfordwest town council set their precepts, which, to those not versed in such terminology, is the money which goes into their coffers from the householders in each of their respective areas.

We tend not to notice the town councils' demand on the taxpayer, as its collected on their behalf by the county council, and most of us probably don't analyse our council tax bills as closely as we should.

This week, Milford council was able to 'cut' its precept by 33p. Not much, you might think, but every little helps, doesn't it? But look closer. Because the Welsh Assembly rebanded property values, the Milford tax base has gone up. That means Milford council has, theoretically, more properties to levy a charge against. So if they'd have kept the precept the same, they'd still have been able to raise considerably more money than last year.

To be fair to Milford town councillors, there was no crowing about how their prudent stewardship of public funds had saved the Milford taxpayer a couple of bob. They, apparently, know that we're in the strange situation of seeing a cut in the precept at the same time as an overall increase in the general demand on the taxpayer.

The Haverfordwest tax base has also gone up, so if the good burghers of our county town had exactly the same spending commitments as last year, they'd have been able to cut the precept. But they haven't, and they've decided to increase the precept from £36.50 to £37.50, which they're keen to state is a just three per cent increase in line with inflation.

There is, however, two ways to look at it. For the upcoming year, Haverfordwest Town Council is looking to raise £152,316. For the current year, that figure is £140, 420.

That's an increase in the money raised from the Haverfordwest taxpayer of nearly eight and half per cent, several times the rate of inflation.

We would suggest this whole bizarre situation stems from the Assembly's rebanding process, which amounts to a stealth tax. The sad thing is that by choosing to remove the figure of £152,316 from its recorded resolution and inserting the statement that their rise is 'in line with inflation', Haverfordwest Town Council look to be buying into the spin.