Savings of more than £7 million have been welcomed by members of Perth and Kinross Council.
The latest revenue budget report revealed the local authority has slashed costs across all services, including housing and health, environment and education.
This has been attributed to a combination of “staff slippage”, service redesign, improved performance and increased income.
Councillor Willie Wilson welcomed the projected underspend of £500,000 for winter maintenance.
He said: “We are all pleased it has been a mild winter. This means we will have salt supplies for this year, which will have an impact on next year’s budget.”
Council leader Ian Miller told members of the strategic policy and resources committee that some of the savings were down to additional grant funding from the Scottish Government.
That extra cash included £1.12m of revenue support grant.
He added: “I especially want to highlight the accelerated savings due to service redesign, which are coming through much earlier than anticipated and having a marked impact on the housing and community care figures in particular.
“There is some tremendous work going on across our services and I want to place on record the thanks and appreciation of this council, which I hope directors will convey to all staff.”