Budget & finances
Comparing raw dollar totals between councils isn't very useful — bigger councils naturally have bigger numbers. What does tell you about a council's financial health are normalised indicators: the standard ratios that every NSW council reports against the Office of Local Government's benchmarks, plus per-property figures you can compare to the NSW average. The ratios below are from the NSW Government's 'Your Council' / OLG time-series data for 2023–24.
New to these terms? Read them in plain English
- Operating performance ratio
- Whether everyday income covers everyday running costs.
- Own-source operating revenue ratio
- How much of the council's income it raises itself vs. grants from other governments.
- Unrestricted current ratio
- Whether the council has enough spare cash to pay its short-term bills.
- Debt service cover ratio
- How comfortably operating cash covers the council's loan repayments.
- Rates & annual charges outstanding ratio
- The share of rates bills that haven't been paid by year-end.
- Cash expense cover ratio
- How many months the council could keep paying bills if income stopped.
- Infrastructure backlog ratio
- The cost of fixing run-down assets, as a share of what those assets are worth.
- Asset maintenance ratio
- Whether the council actually spends what it should on maintaining its assets.
- Building & infrastructure renewals ratio
- Whether assets are being renewed as fast as they wear out.
- Operating result (surplus / deficit)
- Income minus expenses for the year's normal operations.
- OLG benchmark
- The healthy target set by the state for each financial ratio.
- Average residential rate
- The typical yearly general-rates bill for a home in the area.
- Office of Local Government (OLG)
- The NSW body overseeing councils; publishes the financial data.
- $1,513 / yearAbout 31% above the NSW council average (~$1,203 in 2024–25). In 2024–25 Albury's average residential rate was $1,574. A separate domestic waste charge applies. (OLG 'Your Council' data.)
- Operating deficit — performance ratio −6.6%Below the >0% benchmark (misses).
- Liquidity & cash
- Unrestricted current ratio 1.58× (passes); 18.6 months cash; debt service cover 4.03× (passes)Liquidity, cash cover and debt service cover all above benchmark.
- Rates & charges outstanding
- 11.8% (misses)Above the <10% benchmark that applies to regional councils — notably high; unpaid rates as a share of what's owed.
- Infrastructure
- Backlog 2.4% (misses); renewals 63.5% (misses); maintenance 109.3% (passes)2024–25 OLG data: backlog 3.1%, renewals 88.3%, maintenance 101.2%.
- Self-funding
- Own-source revenue 81.5% (passes)Above the >60% benchmark.
- Domestic waste charge (2023–24)
- $345 / yearA separate annual charge that funds the bin service; $387 in 2024–25.
| Indicator (2023–24) | Albury | Meets? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| −6.6% | > 0% | No | |
| 81.5% | > 60% | Yes | |
| 1.58× | > 1.5× | Yes | |
| 4.03× | > 2× | Yes | |
| 11.8% | < 10% | No | |
| 18.6 months | > 3 months | Yes | |
| 2.4% | < 2% | No | |
| 109.3% | > 100% | Yes | |
| 63.5% | > 100% | No |
AlburyCity's financial-health indicators, 2023–24, against the NSW Office of Local Government benchmarks. 'Meets?' simply states whether the figure is on the benchmark side of the line. Source: NSW Government 'Your Council' / OLG time-series data, 2023–24.
These ratios are the standard, size-independent way to read a council's finances, which is why we use them instead of raw dollar totals. Albury met 5 of the 9 benchmarks in 2023–24; the misses were operating performance (an operating deficit), rates outstanding (11.8% against a <10% benchmark), infrastructure backlog and building & infrastructure renewals. (The OLG classifies Albury as a regional town/city, so it is benchmarked at under 10% for rates outstanding, rather than the <5% used for metropolitan councils.) We present the numbers and their benchmarks; whether that's good value is for you to judge from the sources below.
Sources — check it yourself
Figures are current as at the dates shown and may change — always confirm with the linked source. See the notice at the bottom of the page for full details and how to report a correction.