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.
- $1,004 / yearAbout 12% below the NSW council average of ~$1,140 — among the lower residential rates in NSW. A separate domestic waste charge (~$701) applies. (OLG time-series data.)
- Operating surplus — performance ratio +2.7%Above the >0% benchmark.
- Liquidity & cash
- Unrestricted current ratio 2.62×, ~9.9 months cash; debt service cover 8.03× (passes)Liquidity, cash cover and debt service cover all comfortably above benchmark.
- Infrastructure
- Backlog 4.1% (above benchmark); renewals 123.7% (passes); maintenance 95.0% (below)Renewals passed the benchmark in 2023–24, but the repair backlog was above the 2% line and asset maintenance was just under 100%.
- Self-funding
- Own-source revenue 77.2% (passes)Above the >60% benchmark.
- Domestic waste charge (2023–24)
- $701 / yearA separate annual charge that funds the bin service.
| Indicator (2023–24) | Cumberland | Meets? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.7% | > 0% | Yes | |
| 77.2% | > 60% | Yes | |
| 2.62× | > 1.5× | Yes | |
| 8.03× | > 2× | Yes | |
| 6.4% | < 5% | No | |
| 9.9 months | > 3 months | Yes | |
| 4.1% | < 2% | No | |
| 95.0% | > 100% | No | |
| 123.7% | > 100% | Yes |
Cumberland 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. Cumberland met 6 of the 9 benchmarks in 2023–24; the gaps — rates outstanding (6.4%) above the under-5% benchmark for metropolitan councils, a higher infrastructure backlog, and asset maintenance just under 100% — sit alongside a healthy operating surplus and strong liquidity. (The OLG classifies Cumberland as a metropolitan council — Group 3 — so it is benchmarked at under 5% for rates outstanding; regional and rural councils are benchmarked at under 10%.) The OLG's partial 2024–25 figures show the infrastructure backlog easing slightly to 3.4% and asset maintenance rising to 96.4%, while building & infrastructure renewals fell to 85.6% (below the 100% benchmark, having passed in 2023–24) — a reminder that these ratios can move year to year. 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
- Office of Local Government — Time-Series Data 2024–25 (partial infrastructure ratios) · 2024–25
- Your Council (NSW Government) — Cumberland · FY2023-24
- Cumberland City Council — Key Council Plans (Delivery Program & budget) · 2026–27
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.