Hobsons Bay (VIC) Council budget and finances

Budget & finances

Every Victorian council reports the same set of financial measures to the state each year, under the Local Government Performance Reporting Framework (LGPRF). The state doesn't set pass marks for these measures. So we show Hobsons Bay's figure for 2024–25 next to the median of all Victorian councils. The median is the middle value: half of councils are above it and half below. It is a point of reference, not a target. Hobsons Bay is in the LGPRF's 'Metro' 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 (2024–25): $2,677General rates divided by all property assessments (homes and businesses). Hobsons Bay has no municipal charge. The Victorian median is $1,937.
Adjusted underlying result (2024–25): 4.8% surplusThe operating result without capital grants and contributions, as a share of that revenue. The Victorian median is 0.56%. The council's LGPRF comment says the timing of Victoria Grants Commission funding and home and community care funding retained from earlier years lifted recurrent grants.
Borrowings: Loans 16.0% of rates (2024–25); $12.3 million budgeted by 30 June 2027The 2026–27 budget repays $2.585 million, leaving $12.284 million. It says no further borrowing is in the long-term Financial Plan, so the council expects to be debt free by 2032–33.
2026–27 budget: $59.7 million capital works; $5.7 million operating surplusIncludes $19.2m for roads, $2.1m for drains and $4.3m for footpaths and cycleways. Adopted on 29 June 2026.

Measure (2024–25)	Hobsons Bay	Victorian median
	4.8%	0.56%
Current assets ÷ current liabilities (short-term liquidity)	1.42×	2.17×
Unrestricted cash ÷ current liabilities (free cash)	−0.13×	0.26×
Loans and borrowings ÷ rates	16.0%	13.2%
Loan repayments ÷ rates	2.4%	1.4%
Non-current liabilities ÷ own-source revenue	10.4%	16.7%
Asset renewal and upgrade ÷ depreciation	130.7%	94.9%
Rates ÷ adjusted underlying revenue (reliance on rates)	80.2%	57.8%
Rates ÷ property values	0.31%	0.28%
Expenses per property assessment	$3,586	$4,100
Average rate per property assessment	$2,677	$1,937

Hobsons Bay City Council, LGPRF financial measures, 2024–25, next to the median of the 79 Victorian councils reporting each measure. Source: Local Government Victoria, LGPRF 2020–2025 Full Council Data Set (Nov 2025 release), CC BY 4.0. The median is CouncilBeacon's own calculation.

The LGPRF has no official benchmarks, and Local Government Victoria says its data shouldn't be used for simplistic league tables. So we don't mark any figure as a pass or a fail, and we don't rank councils. The Victorian median is CouncilBeacon's own calculation, taken across the Victorian councils that report each measure in the 2024–25 data set. A figure above or below the median isn't good or bad in itself. Councils differ in size, growth, assets and services. On the negative unrestricted-cash figure, the council's LGPRF comment says it held $28 million in investments for periods over 90 days, which the measure leaves out. On asset renewal, its comment says a larger share of capital works went to renewing and upgrading existing assets, and that it expects the figure to fall from 2026–27. The 2025–26 figures are due in about November 2026.

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.