Angus councillors have been assured officials have pursued every option open to them in the quest to find savings.
The pledge was made by finance chief Ian Lorimer, just weeks ahead of a budget expected to bring a council tax rise and further cuts to jobs and services.
Mr Lorimer spoke out as scrutiny and audit committee members considered a Scotland-wide Accounts Commission report on local council finances.
It revealed spiralling debt levels across the country, which increased by more than £800 million last year.
There are also warning signs that some councils could be heading for trouble by taking on low interest loans to finance capital programmes.
Mr Lorimer, head of corporate finance, said council chiefs could not shirk from the challenges facing Angus and every other authority.
“The report indicates that councils that have been pro-active in making difficult decisions will be better placed for the future,” he said.
“It contains quite a lot around the health of councils, a lot of good information and answers as to why councils are facing perhaps the most difficult circumstances that they have for some time.”
But he told committee members: “There is nothing else out there in the search for savings that other councils are doing that Angus Council has either done, is doing, or will do in the future.
The Accounts Commission has warned some authorities face the prospect of running out of reserves within the next few years if they continue to dip into them at levels planned for 2017/18.
Twenty councils drew on reserves in 2016/17, with Angus among the authorities using more than originally planned.
Montrose SNP councillor Bill Duff said data within the report seemed to suggest that although overall debt levels within Angus were “relatively modest” in comparison to some other councils, the long-term liability component was greater.
Mr Lorimer said the figures related to PPP or PFI borrowings, adding that “conventional” borrowing was at a lower level.
A number of major PFI schemes have been completed in Angus, including work on the school estate and infrastructure schemes.
