CUTS being imposed on Derbyshire County Council are unfair in comparison to other counties, senior councillors insist.
The Labour leader of the authority, Anne Western, says the cuts, which this year total £45m, are "ideological" and are punishing Labour-controlled administrations and protecting Conservative-led authorities.
But Conservative group leaderBarry Lewis said the party was making a political point ahead of May's local and general elections, and Local Government Minister Kris Hopkins has argued that spending in the county has increased in cash terms.
Mrs Western said that every household in Derbyshire will lose £97 of government funding this year, while only £43 would be lost in the Conservative-controlled council in Hampshire.
The authority must save £157m by 2018. It gets nearly three-quarters of its funding from central government, but that has been slashed in recent years.
Mrs Western said: "The latest Government figures are completely clear. People who live in Derbyshire are taking a bigger hit than any similar county anywhere in England – is that fair?
"This year every Derbyshire household will lose £97 in Government funding for local services but if you lived in Buckinghamshire you would only lose £52 and in Hampshire the cut is even less at £43 per household.
"George Osborne and David Cameron have said that even when the national budget is back in surplus they will still be cutting services.
"That to me is wrong and presents the British public with a very stark choice in May.
"The Labour Party is committed to bringing the budget into line but I know they are also committed, in the first 12 months, to doing a geographical redistribution of funding to take account of the inequality there is currently with this government's cuts."
Mrs Western's accusations came as she outlined how the council will make its latest round of cuts, £45m in the 12 months from April.
Between 2013 and 2018 the authority must save £157m from its £500m yearly budget.
Tory leader Mr Lewis insisted cuts were being felt across the country.
He said: "Leicestershire County Council is Conservative-controlled and they recently had to increase council tax and Conservative councils in the south have also complained of cuts they are facing.
"We get this from Conservative councils down south about funding so that is a non-argument."
He said that although the main grant from Government was being cut by 24%, money coming in from other sources, such as business rates and public health money, meant the overall reduction in income was less than 14%.
"When you take all that into consideration, the cuts are not looking anywhere near as bad as Labour would make out in this election year."
Mrs Western said: "Nearly three-quarters of the money we spend on local services comes from the Government and only a quarter from council tax so it's inevitable that cuts of this size will have a huge impact on local services.
"Derbyshire residents pay income tax exactly the same as people in every other part of the country and they deserve to be treated fairly.
"We're doing everything we can to protect local people from the cuts – we're looking at every penny we spend, cutting management costs, selling land and buildings, raising income and using money set aside for emergencies.
"But unless the Government reconsiders its cuts for Derbyshire many services will no longer exist and others will shrink."
In response to Mrs Western's comments, Local Government Minister Kris Hopkins said: "The majority of local authorities have continued to balance their budgets whilst reducing council tax in real-terms and increased or maintained public satisfaction with services. In fact, so far over this Parliament, Derbyshire County Council's spending, excluding education, has actually increased in cash terms.
"Every bit of the public sector needs to do their bit to pay off deficit left by the last administration, including local government which accounts for a quarter of all public spending. Every council should be able to deliver sensible savings while protecting frontline services and keeping council tax down. This could include doing more joint working, getting more for less through smart procurement, tackling local fraud and council tax arrears, or utilising their reserves and surplus property."
