Council chiefs yesterday endorsed the "concordat" which paved the way for a council tax freeze.
Rejection of the deal had been Labour's best chance of destroying this week's SNP Budget settlement but chiefs from all 32 councils in Scotland endorsed the document yesterday.
The original motion yesterday "noted" the agreement signed by the president and vice-presidents of Cosla. An SNP amendment then "welcomed" that deal, while the final version simply "referred" the concordat to the local authorities. But it was endorsed by the council representatives on a unanimous basis, prompting a warm welcome from ministers last night.
Council leaders from across Scotland said it was the "best possible deal" under the circumstances and agreed it would now be put to their own authorities.
As well as giving councils £70m to freeze council tax levels, the agreement will give local authorities more flexibility over how they spend their cash.
Cosla president Pat Watters said: "Council leaders today unanimously agreed that this is the best possible deal for local government under the circumstances. The deal will be taken back to councils by leaders for local determination."
Finance Secretary John Swinney said: "Today heralds an unprecedented shift in the relationship between the Scottish Government and local government, one based on mutual respect. I would encourage every local authority to take up the government's offer of adequate resources to deliver a council tax freeze."
Jenny Dawe, the Liberal Democrat leader of the City of Edinburgh Council, insisted the concordat was not a done deal, saying it would now be examined in detail.
She said: "Before we can make any commitments on future council tax levels we need to know in detail what the government expects of councils in terms of implementing new policies. As things stand, there is no agreement yet because the government has still not told us how much funding each council will get to pay for vital public services."
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