The deputy leader at County Hall has raised fresh fears over his council's finances, after the authority received less cash from Whitehall than expected.
Andrew Jamieson was speaking after the government announced Norfolk County Council would receive £217m as part of its latest financial settlement for local councils.
He warned his authority, which has an annual budget of just over £1.8bn, had been expecting to receive more and would now have to revisit its spending plans - raising the prospect of more cuts to services.
It comes as councils across the country are coming under extreme financial pressures, with some having to declare themselves effectively bankrupt.
Experts have said that more authorities are likely to suffer the same fate in 2024, but Norfolk County Council has so far said it remains confident that it remains financially stable, despite the need to make huge savings.
Mr Jamieson said: "It's fair to say the provisional settlement was disappointing. We had estimated that the settlement would have provided more in the service grant than it did.
"That was capped quite substantially for all councils and this came as a surprise to us and I'm afraid that means we are going to have to plan our budget even more carefully."
The amount the council will receive is £11m more than last year, but Mr Jamieson said the increase had been swallowed up by inflation and rising costs.
Mr Jamieson, the council's cabinet member for finance, said he was disappointed extra money for authorities like Norfolk - where an ageing population means increased demand for social care - had not been forthcoming.
He said between now and 2025, the council will have spent an extra £200m in adult social care and children's services - but the government has not heeded pleas for further help.
READ MORE: Norfolk County Council warning over need to save millions
He said: "It's fair to say the provisional settlement was disappointing. We had estimated that the settlement would have provided more in the service grant than it did.
"That was capped quite substantially for all councils and this came as a surprise to us and I'm afraid that means we are going to have to plan our budget even more carefully."
The Conservative-controlled council has been planning for how to plug a £46.2m hole in the authority's budget for 2023/24, with £26.5m of potential cuts and savings already identified.
But Mr Jamieson said the gap had now grown, although he could not yet reveal by how much.
Mr Jamieson said the council had saved £600m since 2010, including through focusing on prevention to save money, such as using AI to identify people at risk of falls and providing earlier support to families to stop young people ending up in care.
He said: "What I want to do is to try to continue down the transformation path - providing better services for less - rather than cutting services."
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A COUNCIL 'GOES BUST'?
A number of councils have recently effectively declared themselves bankrupt, because they were not able to balance their books.
Birmingham City Council and Nottingham City Council were the most recent to issue section 114 notices.
Councils cannot actually go bankrupt, but a section 114 notice indicates predicted income is not enough to meet its forecast expenditure for the next year.
Most councils then pass an amended budget reducing spending and the government can intervene.
Some councils have sought the government green light to use their capital funds - for example by selling property or assets - to top up service spending.
Councils have relatively few options when it comes to bringing in more money - but higher council tax bills are one method.
While the government generally caps council tax increases, Croydon, Slough and Thurrock were all allowed to impose higher hikes - 15pc, 10pc and 10pc, respectively - for 2023/24.
Lord Morse, chair of watchdog the Office for Local Government said "failures in management or failures in governance" were the reason for financial woes, rather than lack of cash from the government.
Mr Jamieson said Lord Morse was correct that very specific instances had led to the issues within those councils - but the issue went beyond poor governance.
He said: "Like all good accountants, he is describing the situation as it currently exists, but that's a lot less useful when using a rearview mirror to assess the future.
"The level of alarm being raised by well-run councils, the Local Government Association and the County Councils Network as to their projections and understanding of the challenges should not be discounted."
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