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 OLG time-series data for 2023–24 (the 2024–25 release dropped several ratios NSW-wide, so we use 2023–24 for the full 9-ratio set and 2024–25 for the figures still published). The OLG classifies Federation as a Large Rural council (Group 11), so it is benchmarked at under 10% for rates outstanding; metropolitan councils are held to under 5%.
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.
- $951 / yearAbout 21% below the NSW council average of ~$1,203 (2023–24 was $851, about 25% below the NSW average of ~$1,140). A separate domestic waste charge (~$448 in 2024–25) applies. (OLG time-series data.) This is before the special rate variation described in Rates & fees below.
- Operating surplus — performance ratio +16.5%Above the >0% benchmark.
- Liquidity & cash
- Unrestricted current ratio 4.16×, 21.7 months cash; debt service cover 20.38× (all pass)Liquidity, cash cover and debt service cover are all well above benchmark.
- Self-funding
- Own-source revenue 47.6% (below benchmark)Below the >60% benchmark — a larger share of income comes from grants, common for rural councils with a small ratepayer base over a large area.
- Infrastructure
- Backlog 17.6% and asset maintenance 94.4% both miss; renewals 71.9% (misses)The infrastructure-backlog, asset-maintenance and renewals ratios are all outside benchmark in 2023–24.
- 8.1%Below the under-10% benchmark that applies to Large Rural councils.
| Indicator (2023–24) | Federation | Meets? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| +16.5% | > 0% | Yes | |
| 47.6% | > 60% | No | |
| 4.16× | > 1.5× | Yes | |
| 20.38× | > 2× | Yes | |
| 8.1% | < 10% | Yes | |
| 21.7 months | > 3 months | Yes | |
| 17.6% | < 2% | No | |
| 94.4% | > 100% | No | |
| 71.9% | > 100% | No |
Federation'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 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. Federation met 5 of the 9 benchmarks in 2023–24 — it runs an operating surplus and has strong liquidity and debt-cover ratios, but its own-source revenue is below benchmark (common for rural councils) and its infrastructure backlog, asset maintenance and renewals ratios all miss. The OLG's 2024–25 time-series (which dropped some ratios NSW-wide) shows asset maintenance at 93.2%, renewals at 38.0% and backlog at 16.4%. Separately, IPART approved a special rate variation of 69.94% over 2025–26 and 2026–27 (see Rates & fees) which the council says is intended to put its finances on a firmer footing — 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.