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.
- $1,380 / yearAbout 15% above the NSW council average of ~$1,203. In 2023–24 it was $1,340 (NSW ~$1,140). A separate domestic waste charge (~$371 in 2024–25) applies. (OLG 'Your Council' data.)
- Operating deficit — performance ratio −12.1%Below the >0% benchmark; one of the stand-out misses this year.
- Infrastructure
- Backlog 36.5% (well above the <2% benchmark); renewals 180.9% (passes); maintenance 65.7% (misses)The infrastructure-backlog ratio — the value of works needed to bring assets to a satisfactory standard — is very high against the OLG's <2% benchmark; the OLG's 2024–25 time-series shows 34.9%.
- Self-funding
- Own-source revenue 55.6% (misses)Below the >60% benchmark — the council relies more on grants and contributions than the benchmark assumes.
- Liquidity & cash
- Unrestricted current ratio 3.48×, 20.1 months cash, debt service cover 3.39× (all pass)Liquidity, cash buffer and debt-service cover are all above benchmark.
- 7.3%Below the <10% benchmark that applies to regional councils.
| Indicator (2023–24) | Clarence Valley | Meets? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| −12.1% | > 0% | No | |
| 55.6% | > 60% | No | |
| 3.48× | > 1.5× | Yes | |
| 3.39× | > 2× | Yes | |
| 7.3% | < 10% | Yes | |
| 20.1 months | > 3 months | Yes | |
| 36.5% | < 2% | No | |
| 65.7% | > 100% | No | |
| 180.9% | > 100% | Yes |
Clarence Valley 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. Clarence Valley met 5 of the 9 benchmarks in 2023–24. The two stand-out misses are the operating result (a −12.1% operating deficit against a >0% benchmark) and the infrastructure backlog (36.5% against a <2% benchmark — the value of works needed to bring assets up to a satisfactory standard, which is very high). The OLG classifies Clarence 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 time-series shows the infrastructure ratios moving slightly: backlog 34.9%, maintenance 67.7%, renewals 105.5%. 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.