POWYS council will have just over £169 million to spend next year - but is still facing the biggest cuts among local authorities.
The council is facing a 0.5% cut in its provisional funding settlement from the Welsh Government in the next financial year. Last year Powys saw its budget cut by 4% and neighbouring rural authorities Ceredigion and Monmouthshire also faced big cuts.
Local government secretary Mark Drakeford has said this year no council will face cuts of more than 0.5% of their previous allocation.
Wrexham, Blaenau Gwent, Torfaen and Merthyr have also finished at the bottom of the funding pile. Gwynedd council, with a 0.9% rise, will see the largest increase.
The cut to Powys council’s budget has been criticised by the Welsh Conservatives.
In total Welsh councils will receive just over £4 billion from the Welsh Government with the allocation increased by £3.8 million compared to 2016-17. It is the first increase in the settlement for local government since 2013/14.
However the 0.25% rise in the the overall Welsh local government allocation will reduce to a cut of 1.5% once inflation is taken into account.
Mr Drakeford said: "The package includes additional funding to implement a minus 0.5% funding floor which limits the impact on councils that would have seen the biggest reductions in their core funding.
"As a result, this is the first cash increase in the local government settlement since 2013/14. Under the funding floor, no council will have to manage on less than 99.5% of the cash provided to them last year. When added to the other sources of income available to them, many councils will be able to increase their spending next year.
"This is a stable settlement in challenging times and will allow local government to set sustainable budgets despite constraints on public finances."
However the allocation has been criticised by the Welsh Conservatives. Shadow local government secretary Janet Finch-Saunders criticised Brecon and Radnorshire’s Liberal Democrat AM Kirsty Williams, who joined the Labour administration as education secretary.
Ms Saunders said: "While severe cuts to the local government budget have been somewhat halted, this remains a difficult settlement for Welsh councils.
"The Welsh Government’s relationship with rural Wales - and particularly that with Powys - has never been lower but with a voice from Mid Wales at the cabinet table communities will have expected better."
The announcement of provisional funding settlements to councils follows the publication of the Welsh Government’s draft budget which was agreed with Plaid Cymru.