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. The OLG classifies Hilltops as a Large Rural council, so its rates-outstanding ratio is benchmarked at under 10% (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.
- $683 / yearAbout 41% below the NSW council average of ~$1,140 — one of the lowest average residential rates in NSW. Rose to $714 in 2024–25 (NSW ~$1,203). A separate domestic waste charge applies. (OLG 'Your Council' data.)
- Operating deficit — performance ratio −9.4%Below the >0% benchmark (misses).
- Liquidity & cash
- Unrestricted current ratio 1.50× (just under the 1.5× line); 14.7 months cash (passes); debt service cover 6.19× (passes)Cash cover and debt service cover are above benchmark; liquidity sits right on / just under the benchmark.
- Infrastructure
- Backlog 5.6% (misses); renewals 107.7% (passes); maintenance 99.8% (just under, misses)2024–25 update: backlog 5.5%, maintenance 101.1%, renewals 137.6%.
- Self-funding & rates collection
- Own-source revenue 55.6% (misses >60%); rates & charges outstanding 12.5% (misses <10%)The council relies more on grants than the benchmark, and a higher share of rates is uncollected than the Large Rural benchmark allows.
- Domestic waste charge (2023–24)
- $345 / yearA separate annual charge that funds the bin service; $360 in 2024–25.
| Indicator (2023–24) | Hilltops | Meets? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| −9.4% | > 0% | No | |
| 55.6% | > 60% | No | |
| 1.50× | > 1.5× | No | |
| 6.19× | > 2× | Yes | |
| 12.5% | < 10% | No | |
| 14.7 months | > 3 months | Yes | |
| 5.6% | < 2% | No | |
| 99.8% | > 100% | No | |
| 107.7% | > 100% | Yes |
Hilltops 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. Hilltops met 3 of the 9 benchmarks in 2023–24 — it passed debt service cover, cash cover and building & infrastructure renewals, and missed the others, including an operating deficit (−9.4%), rates outstanding of 12.5% (against a <10% Large Rural benchmark) and liquidity just under the 1.5× line. Financial sustainability is a live theme for the council, which decided against a special rate variation in 2023 and is reviewing operational efficiencies (see the Rates and Priorities sections). Hilltops' average residential rate ($683) is one of the lowest in NSW. The OLG's 2024–25 time-series shows the infrastructure ratios moving: backlog 5.5%, maintenance 101.1%, renewals 137.6%. 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.