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, cross-checked against the council's own audited financial statements. (The OLG classifies Cootamundra-Gundagai Regional as a Large Rural council, so it is benchmarked at under 10% for rates outstanding; metropolitan councils are held to under 5%.) Financial sustainability is the central question of the demerger process, so these numbers are unusually load-bearing here.
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.
The numbers
- $974 / yearAbout 19% below the NSW council average of ~$1,203 (2023–24 was $985, vs NSW ~$1,140). A separate domestic waste charge (~$516 in 2024–25 on the OLG measure) applies. (OLG time-series data.)
- Operating performance ratio −6.7%Below the >0% benchmark — an operating deficit before capital grants and contributions.
- Liquidity & cash
- Unrestricted current ratio 7.30×, debt service cover 5.13×, 8.2 months cash (all pass)All three liquidity and debt measures are comfortably on the right side of their benchmarks.
- Self-funding
- Own-source revenue 65.7% (passes)Above the >60% benchmark — about two-thirds of income comes from rates, charges and fees rather than grants.
- Infrastructure (2023–24)
- Backlog 3.6% misses; renewals 91.5% misses; asset maintenance not reportedCouncil's audited Report on Infrastructure Assets as at 30 June 2024 shows the same 3.66% backlog, but reports the asset-maintenance and renewals ratios as not calculable for that year because the 'required maintenance' and depreciation denominators were recorded as nil. See the note below.
- Infrastructure (2024–25, audited)
- Backlog 1.17% (passes); asset maintenance 100.00%; renewals 91.51%From the council's audited 2024–25 financial statements. The backlog ratio now clears the <2% benchmark. Asset maintenance sits exactly on 100.00%, which does not clear a '> 100%' benchmark; renewals remain below 100%.
- 5.3%Well below the under-10% benchmark that applies to rural councils.
| Indicator (2023–24) | Cootamundra-Gundagai | Meets? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| −6.7% | > 0% | No | |
| 65.7% | > 60% | Yes | |
| 7.30× | > 1.5× | Yes | |
| 5.13× | > 2× | Yes | |
| 5.3% | < 10% | Yes | |
| 8.2 months | > 3 months | Yes | |
| 3.6% | < 2% | No | |
| Not reported for 2023–24 | > 100% | Not assessable | |
| 91.5% | > 100% | No |
Cootamundra-Gundagai'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. The asset-maintenance row is marked not assessable: the OLG time-series stores this cell as 0.0%, but the council's own audited Report on Infrastructure Assets as at 30 June 2024 shows the ratio as not calculable (required maintenance recorded as nil), so we do not publish 0.0% as a real value and we exclude that row from the count. Sources: OLG time-series data 2023–24; CGRC audited financial statements 2023–24 and 2024–25.
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. On the eight benchmarks that can be assessed for 2023–24, Cootamundra-Gundagai met five. Two caveats matter. First, the asset-maintenance figure: the OLG time-series shows 0.0%, but the council's audited Report on Infrastructure Assets as at 30 June 2024 shows the ratio as not calculable because required asset maintenance was recorded as nil — so we treat the OLG cell as unreported rather than as a real 0%, and the audited 2024–25 figure is 100.00%. Second, the two sources disagree on the 2023–24 renewals ratio: the OLG file shows 91.5% while the audited statement again shows it as not calculable for that year (98.79% in 2022–23, 91.51% in 2024–25); we show the OLG value in the table and flag the discrepancy here rather than picking one silently. The bigger picture: the council carries an operating deficit, its rate base is well below the NSW average, and financial sustainability is the condition the NSW Government has attached to the demerger — in March 2026 the Demerger Transition Committee resolved to commission a refreshed Financial Sustainability Plan, due late 2026, and separate long-term financial plans and draft revenue policies for each successor council. 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
- Office of Local Government — Time-Series Data 2023–24 (all NSW councils, benchmark ratios) · 2023–24
- CGRC — Audited Annual Financial Statements 2023–24 (Report on Infrastructure Assets) · As at 30 Jun 2024
- CGRC — Audited Financial Statements 2024–25 · As at 30 Jun 2025
- CGRC media release — Demerger Committee moves to secure future of successor councils (refreshed Financial Sustainability Plan) · 18 Mar 2026
- CGRC — Annual Reports and financial statements (all years) · 2026
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.