POWYS County Council is facing a £30m reduction in its base budget over the next three years after receiving the lowest funding increase in Wales.
Further cuts to public services are expected after the council said that the 0.3 per cent rise means it will have to make savings.
But the Welsh government said the settlement for councils in Wales was "better than they expected".
Last October the Welsh Government announced a provisional funding increase of 0.15 per cent for Powys.
The leader of Powys County Council, Cllr David Jones, said: “This will be at tough budget but the cabinet are determined to move to fair provision across Powys.
“We will be looking to make savings but the bulk of those will fall to making efficacies in the way the council is run.”
A Welsh Government spokeswoman said Local Government Minister Carl Sargeant acknowledged that in these challenging times protecting local services was never going to be easy and was likely to be more difficult in the future.
He said it was imperative that councils put themselves in the best position to face future challenges by working together.
The spokeswoman added: “The Local Government Minister Carl Sargeant has said very clearly that the settlement the Welsh government delivered to local authorities in Wales is better than they expected and better than in England.
“While the minister has powers to limit an individual authority’s council tax rises if necessary, he expects authorities to act reasonably recognising the constraints that their residents are facing on their household budgets.”