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.
- $1,175 / yearAbout 3% above the NSW council average of ~$1,140. In 2024–25 it rose to $1,233 (NSW ~$1,203). A separate domestic waste charge applies. (OLG 'Your Council' data.)
- Operating surplus — performance ratio +0.6%Just above the >0% benchmark.
- Liquidity & cash
- Strong liquidity (4.20×), 19.4 months cash; debt service cover 6.75× (passes)Unrestricted current ratio, cash cover and debt service cover all above benchmark.
- Infrastructure
- Backlog 6.2% (misses); renewals 35.7% (misses); maintenance 78.7% (misses)All three infrastructure ratios sit on the wrong side of their benchmarks this year.
- Self-funding
- Own-source revenue 69.1% (passes)Above the >60% benchmark.
- Rates & charges outstanding (2023–24)
- 5.4%Below the <10% benchmark for regional/rural councils (Dubbo is OLG Group 4, Regional Town/City).
| Indicator (2023–24) | Dubbo Regional | Meets? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.6% | > 0% | Yes | |
| 69.1% | > 60% | Yes | |
| 4.20× | > 1.5× | Yes | |
| 6.75× | > 2× | Yes | |
| 5.4% | < 10% | Yes | |
| 19.4 months | > 3 months | Yes | |
| 6.2% | < 2% | No | |
| 78.7% | > 100% | No | |
| 35.7% | > 100% | No |
Dubbo Regional 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. Dubbo Regional met 6 of the 9 benchmarks in 2023–24 — the three misses are all infrastructure ratios (backlog, asset maintenance and renewals), which measure whether spending is keeping pace with the condition of roads, buildings and other assets. (The OLG classifies Dubbo Regional as a Regional Town/City 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 further from benchmark: backlog 7.6%, asset maintenance 76.7%, renewals 42.1%. 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.