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.
- $1,343 / yearAbout 18% above the NSW council average of ~$1,140. Rose to $1,405 in 2024–25 (NSW ~$1,203). A separate domestic waste charge applies. (OLG 'Your Council' data.)
- Operating deficit — performance ratio −5.9%Below the >0% benchmark.
- Self-funding
- Own-source revenue 40.2%Below the >60% benchmark — a larger share of income comes from grants and contributions.
- Liquidity & cash
- Unrestricted current ratio 2.03×, 12.1 months cash; debt service cover 11.82× (all pass)Liquidity, cash cover and debt service cover are all above benchmark.
- Infrastructure
- Backlog 3.3% (misses <2%); renewals 259.2% (passes); maintenance 123.0% (passes)The 2024–25 time-series shows renewals 202.6%, maintenance 82.6% and backlog 3.4%.
- Domestic waste charge (2023–24)
- $632 / yearA separate annual charge that funds the bin service; $674 in 2024–25.
| Indicator (2023–24) | Cessnock | Meets? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| −5.9% | > 0% | No | |
| 40.2% | > 60% | No | |
| 2.03× | > 1.5× | Yes | |
| 11.82× | > 2× | Yes | |
| 7.3% | < 10% | Yes | |
| 12.1 months | > 3 months | Yes | |
| 3.3% | < 2% | No | |
| 123.0% | > 100% | Yes | |
| 259.2% | > 100% | Yes |
Cessnock City Council'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. Cessnock met 6 of the 9 benchmarks in 2023–24 — the misses were operating performance (an operating deficit), own-source revenue (a larger reliance on grants) and infrastructure backlog. (The OLG classifies Cessnock as a Regional Town/City council — Group 4 — so it is benchmarked at under 10% for rates outstanding; metropolitan councils are benchmarked at under 5%.) The OLG's 2024–25 time-series shows the infrastructure ratios moving: backlog 3.4%, maintenance 82.6%, renewals 202.6%. 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.