Hindmarsh Shire (VIC) Council budget and finances

Budget & finances

Every Victorian council reports the same set of financial measures each year under the Local Government Performance Reporting Framework (LGPRF), published by Local Government Victoria. Victoria sets no pass/fail benchmarks for these measures, so we show Hindmarsh's 2024–25 result next to the median of all Victorian councils that reported it. A median is simply the middle value — a reference point, not a target. Hindmarsh is in the LGPRF's 'Small Shire' comparison group.

New to these terms? Read them in plain English

Operating result (surplus / deficit): Income minus expenses for the year's normal operations.
Average residential rate: The typical yearly general-rates bill for a home in the area.

See the full explainer, with formulas →

The numbers

Average rate per property assessment (2024–25): $1,660 (Victorian median $1,937)General rates and the municipal charge divided by all rateable property assessments — homes, farms and businesses together. Farm land makes up about 84% of the Shire's rateable value in the 2026–27 Budget.
Expenses per property assessment (2024–25): $5,283 (Victorian median $4,100)
Borrowings: None — 0.0% of rates (Victorian median 13.2%)The 2026–27 Budget says the council holds no borrowings, has a $2 million overdraft facility for short-term timing differences, and proposes no new long-term borrowing.
Underlying result (2024–25): 12.2% deficit (Victorian median 0.56% surplus)Adjusted underlying result as a share of adjusted underlying revenue. The council held a Special Meeting on 21 January 2026 to consider revised 2024–25 Financial Statements and Performance Statement; the LGPRF data set we use was released in November 2025.
2026–27 Budget: Capital works of $6.435 million; forecast operating deficit of $1.43 millionAdopted on 24 June 2026. Total rates and charges are budgeted at $10.63 million, up $0.285 million. The council says $4.411 million of the capital works goes to roads, kerb and channel and footpaths.

Measure (2024–25)	Hindmarsh	Victorian median
Adjusted underlying surplus (or deficit), as a share of adjusted underlying revenue	-12.2%	0.56%
Current assets compared with current liabilities	4.61×	2.17×
Unrestricted cash compared with current liabilities	4.08×	0.26×
Loans and borrowings compared with rates	0.0%	13.2%
Loan repayments compared with rates	0.0%	1.4%
Non-current liabilities compared with own-source revenue	3.7%	16.7%
Asset renewal and upgrade spending compared with depreciation	71.2%	94.9%
Rates compared with adjusted underlying revenue	41.0%	57.8%
Rates compared with property values	0.23%	0.28%
Expenses per property assessment	$5,283	$4,100
Average rate per property assessment	$1,660	$1,937

Hindmarsh Shire Council, LGPRF financial measures, 2024–25, with the Victorian median across the 79 councils that reported each measure. The median is CouncilBeacon's own calculation from the LGPRF data set; LGPRF itself publishes no benchmarks. Source: Local Government Victoria, LGPRF 2020–2025 Full Council Data Set (Nov 2025 release), CC BY 4.0.

LGPRF publishes no benchmarks for these measures, and Local Government Victoria says the data should not be used for simplistic league tables — so we don't say whether a figure is good or bad, and we don't rank councils. The median is ours, computed across the Victorian councils that report each measure. The file also carries a target column, which is each council's own target, not a state standard; we don't show it.

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.