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; dollar figures are from Inner West's audited 2024–25 financial statements.
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.
- $1,342 / yearAbout 12% above the NSW council average of ~$1,203. A separate domestic waste charge (~$587) applies. (OLG time-series data, 2024–25.)
- Net surplus $42.8M (from continuing operations)Up from a $12.3M surplus in 2023–24. Before capital grants and contributions, the result was a $4.6M deficit (2023–24: $12.7M deficit) — day-to-day operations, excluding capital grant timing, still ran a modest gap.
- Capital works (2024–25)
- ~$68.2M — $50.4M asset renewals + $17.8M new assetsCash spent on investing activities was $56.0M against a $103.8M original budget, reflecting slower-than-planned delivery of some capital works that year.
- Borrowings
- $30.7M at 30 Jun 2025 (≈ $161 per resident)Down from $32.8M a year earlier; weighted average interest rate 2.23%. No loan defaults or breaches.
| Indicator (2023–24) | Inner West | Meets? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| −0.7% | > 0% | No | |
| 88.9% | > 60% | Yes | |
| 2.38× | > 1.5× | Yes | |
| 10.35× | > 2× | Yes | |
| 7.5% | < 5% | No | |
| 5.8 months | > 3 months | Yes | |
| 1.4% | < 2% | Yes | |
| 120.6% | > 100% | Yes | |
| 75.0% | > 100% | No |
Inner West'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. Inner West met 6 of the 9 benchmarks in 2023–24; the gaps were a small operating deficit, rates outstanding above the under-5% metropolitan benchmark (7.5%), and building & infrastructure renewals (75.0%). The OLG classifies Inner West as a metropolitan council, so it is benchmarked at under 5% for rates outstanding; regional and rural councils are benchmarked at under 10%. For 2024–25 the infrastructure ratios OLG has published so far show renewals recovering strongly to 191.8% and asset maintenance at 108.8% (both now passing), with backlog at 1.6% — consistent with the $50.4M of asset renewals delivered that year. 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
- Office of Local Government — Time-Series Data 2023–24 (all NSW councils, benchmark ratios) · 2023–24
- Office of Local Government — Time-Series Data 2024–25 (rate, waste charge & 2024–25 infrastructure ratios) · 2024–25
- Your Council (NSW Government) — Inner West data · 2023–24
- Inner West Council — Annual Financial Statements for the year ended 30 June 2025 · 30 Jun 2025
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.