The reason council tax is so high, is simply because the local councils 'felt like it'
When the government changed from "rates" system to "council tax" i did a simple calculation comparing the gross tax income for my own town (rates vs council tax) - the council tax method amounted to over 3 times more income from same houses than it would gather via rates - neither the goverment nor the public questioned this price hike from local councils - so the councils never had to justify it - hence the public got what they deserved
the reason councils would give for such a tax hike, is their "anticipated" non-payment as a result of the ill-fated pole tax attempt - but charging people 3 times as much, only ensured that even more people wouldn't pay - hence now it's around 5 times what it should be
legitmate tax-payers are being punished severely for paying their tax