As The Herald's Reshaping Scotland series very clearly highlights, the issue of local government finance is once again high on the Scottish political agenda.

Central to this has been the thorny subject of the council tax, an issue that has long vexed politicians of any and every political hue.

It is worth reminding ourselves how we got to this point.

Devised as a stop-gap measure by John Major's Conservative government, it was an attempt to curry favour with voters and rescue the |Tories from the mire of Margaret Thatcher's universally reviled poll tax.

That history is instructive and highlights the potency of local tax. Who can forget the poll tax riots of the early 1990s?

Nearly every household in Scotland - 2.4 million in total - is liable for the council tax.

In addition to being almost universal, it is highly visible.

Aside from vehicle excise duty, often still called road tax, it is the only tax that most of us have to make a physical effort to pay, all other taxes being collected either at the point of sale (in the case of VAT) or through our salaries (income tax and National Insurance).

This financial year, council tax receipts will amount to around £2 billion.

But while this accounts for only around 15 per cent of the money spent by Scotland's councils, it is essential to the funding of public services; from street cleaning and bin collections, through to the schooling of our children and the delivery of care services for some of the most vulnerable in our communities.

But while it was undoubtedly an improvement on its immediate predecessor, it is now outdated and therefore may appear not to be an appropriate tax.

The council tax on a home in council tax band A and presently worth, say, £50,000 is only one third of the council tax of someone living in a home in band H, worth 10 or more times as much.

That the tax liability, for all but the most vulnerable, does not vary regardless of the income of the people living in the home further demonstrates the scale of the challenge ahead.

Concerns around perceived unfairness of the council tax and other forms of local taxation prompted the Scottish Government and Cosla to establish the Commission on Local Tax Reform.

The body, which includes representatives from across Scotland's political parties (with the exception of the Conservatives who declined to participate), local and national government, academia, the accountancy and law professions and civic society, has been charged with exploring and understanding a range of alternatives - from both home and abroad - to the present system.

Since we first met in February, the Commission has heard from more than 40 representatives from a range of interests and organisations.

These have included trade unions, academics, charities and politicians, with the discussion ranging from the impacts on households and low income groups to alternative local tax systems at home and abroad.

In addition, we have received over 160 written responses to our "call for evidence" from members of the public and organisations keen to make their views known.

Furthermore, our short online questionnaire has already recorded the views of more than 3,500 people.

We want as many members of the public to participate as possible, whether by watching our evidence sessions live online, responding to our online questionnaire (via www.localtaxcommission.scot) or taking part in the series of public engagement events that we have planned over the summer months. We want to know what you think.

As we develop our work, it is becoming clear that there is no perfect solution to the challenge of funding local government.

But what the commission's work will do is to allow the local taxation policy of whatever Scottish Government elected in May 2016 to be informed in a way that has never been achieved, nor attempted, before.

Everyone in Scotland will be able to see the commission's assessment of the different options available, their possible impact on local budgets and the potential impact on you, the taxpayer.

The commission will report our findings in the autumn of this year. In the meantime, we continue to seek the views of the public through our questionnaire and through our upcoming public events.

By engaging with the public, understanding the real world constraints and analysing the options available to us, this cross-party and cross-government commission has the opportunity to pave the way for real change and a tax system that is fair and fit for purpose in the 21st century.

Scotland's 2.4 million council tax payers deserve nothing less.

Councillor David O'Neill and Marco Biagi MSP are co-chairmen of The Commission on Local Tax Reform and respectively, President of COSLA and Minister for Local Government and Community Empowerment.