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.
- $1,488 / yearAbout 31% above the NSW council average of ~$1,140. In 2024–25 the average rose to $1,767 (NSW ~$1,203) — around 47% above the NSW average — reflecting a two-year special rate variation (see the Rates & fees section). A separate waste charge applies. (OLG 'Your Council' data.)
- Average domestic waste charge (2023–24)
- $576 / year$574 in 2024–25. Funds the weekly FOGO / fortnightly recycling and general-waste kerbside service.
- Operating surplus — performance ratio +6.9%Above the >0% benchmark: operating income covered day-to-day operating costs before capital grants.
- Self-funding
- Own-source revenue 58.4% (just misses)Just under the >60% benchmark, so the council relies a little more on grants and contributions than the benchmark expects — common for large, dispersed regional shires.
- Infrastructure
- Backlog 2.1% (just misses); renewals 103.3% (passes); maintenance 103.0% (passes)The infrastructure backlog is marginally above the <2% benchmark; asset renewals and maintenance both pass. The 2024–25 update shows the backlog improving to 1.5%, with maintenance 110.5% and renewals 118.1%.
- Liquidity & cash
- Unrestricted current ratio 3.76× (passes); 14.7 months cash (passes); debt service cover 7.55× (passes)Liquidity, cash buffer and debt-service cover all sit comfortably above their benchmarks.
| Indicator (2023–24) | Bega Valley | Meets? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6.9% | > 0% | Yes | |
| 58.4% | > 60% | No | |
| 3.76× | > 1.5× | Yes | |
| 7.55× | > 2× | Yes | |
| Rates & charges outstanding (uncollected) | 4.7% | < 10% | Yes |
| 14.7 months | > 3 months | Yes | |
| 2.1% | < 2% | No | |
| 103.0% | > 100% | Yes | |
| 103.3% | > 100% | Yes |
Bega Valley'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. Bega Valley met 7 of the 9 benchmarks in 2023–24. The two misses were own-source revenue just under the 60% mark (58.4%) and an infrastructure backlog marginally over the line (2.1% against <2%); its operating result, liquidity, cash buffer, debt-service cover, rates outstanding, asset maintenance and renewals all passed. (The OLG classifies Bega Valley as a regional council, so it is benchmarked at under 10% for rates outstanding; metropolitan councils are benchmarked at under 5%.) The OLG's 2024–25 update shows the infrastructure backlog improving to 1.5%, with maintenance 110.5% and renewals 118.1%. 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.