Indigo 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 Indigo'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. Indigo 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): $1,828 (Victorian median $1,937)General rates and municipal charges divided by all rateable property assessments — homes, farms and businesses together.
Expenses per property assessment (2024–25): $4,903 (Victorian median $4,100)
Borrowings (2024–25): 2.6% of rates (Victorian median 13.2%)Loan repayments were 2.2% of rates (median 1.4%). The adopted 2026–27 Budget plans $4.26 million of new borrowing in 2026–27, taking borrowings to about $5.39 million at 30 June 2027, with further borrowing projected in later years.
2026–27 Budget: About $22.0 million from rates and charges; a capital works program of $13.05 millionThe council lists $3.26 million for roads, $1.65 million for caravan park upgrades, $350,000 each for drainage and the Barkly Park Pavilion, $327,000 for Chiltern Recreation Reserve lighting and $250,000 for bridges. The budget forecasts adjusted underlying deficits of 29.91% of adjusted underlying revenue for 2025–26 and 20.08% for 2026–27.

Measure (2024–25)	Indigo	Victorian median
Adjusted underlying surplus (or deficit), as a share of adjusted underlying revenue	−12.6%	0.56%
Current assets compared with current liabilities	1.11×	2.17×
Unrestricted cash compared with current liabilities	−0.27×	0.26×
Loans and borrowings compared with rates	2.6%	13.2%
Loan repayments compared with rates	2.2%	1.4%
Non-current liabilities compared with own-source revenue	27.2%	16.7%
Asset renewal and upgrade spending compared with depreciation	59.5%	94.9%
Rates compared with adjusted underlying revenue	49.1%	57.8%
Rates compared with property values	0.28%	0.28%
Expenses per property assessment	$4,903	$4,100
Average rate per property assessment	$1,828	$1,937

Indigo 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. The 2026–27 Budget figures are from the adopted budget, which the council says was adopted at its 30 June 2026 meeting.

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.