Midland residents will have to bail out themselves after brutal government cuts, Tory MPs have told the House of Commons.
The force fears it could lose more than half of its funding by 2020 and would find it difficult to protect the public.
A debate into the row was called by city MP Richard Burden (Lab Birmingham Northfield) after the force threatened to mount a legal challenge over the cuts.
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But Conservative MPs said the force had to raise more of its money locally instead of depending on Whitehall, after seeing its budget shrink by £126 million in five years.
Dudley South Tory MP Mike Wood urged ministers to suspend rules which meant there had to be a referendum if forces tried to increase its council tax precept by more than 1.99 per cent.
Lifting the cap would allow West Midlands Police to impose an inflation-busting increase without holding a ballot.
Solihull Conservative MP Julian Knight said: "We need a gradual process of retrenchment from central government and more burden being put on the local area."
He added: "The West Midlands has also been very slow in weaning itself off central government financing.... the proportion drawn from the precept has not increased by the level that it should have done over time."
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And Tory Andrew Mitchell, MP for Sutton Coldfield, said: "The precept is very much lower - our fellow citizens in similar cities are paying very much more."
They spoke out as the Commons debated funding for the force which has lost 1,500 officers over the past five years due to cuts.
A study by the National Audit Office confirmed West Midlands Police had been forced to deal with bigger cuts than other forces, losing 23 per cent of its total budget.
This was the second highest figure of all 43 forces in England and Wales.
Police and crime commissioner David Jamieson said the force was facing "the most serious situation since its formation in 1974".
West Midlands Police had originally expected to lose around 40 per cent of funding by 2020, which will lead to the loss of 2,500 officers and the smallest force in its history but the Home Office has refused to explain what the changes would mean for individual forces.
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Speaking about the threat of even bigger cuts, Mr Jamieson said: "To lose 40 per cent of our budget would have been very hard but we had a tough plan in place.
"However, it would not be an underestimate to describe losing 55 per cent of total funding as catastrophic.
"It would be very difficult to see how the chief constable could continue to do the work he has been doing in keeping the community safe."
The funding gap is partly due to West Midlands Police having a low council tax precept, which means it has to depend on Home Office grants and is particularly affected by government cuts.
Currently, £107 is added to council tax bills for a band D home in the area served by West Midlands Police, compared to £188 in the area served by Warwickshire Police, for example.
But Government restrictions make it almost impossible to push up the precept.
Bedfordshire Police attempted to increase the amount it charged by more than 1.99 per cent and was forced to hold a referendum in May this year at a cost of £400,000 - and voters rejected the tax hike.