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.
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.
- $1,344 / yearRose to $1,447 in 2024–25 — about 20% above the NSW council average (~$1,140 in 2023–24, ~$1,203 in 2024–25). A separate domestic waste charge (~$450 in 2023–24, ~$472 in 2024–25) applies. (OLG 'Your Council' data.)
- Operating surplus — performance ratio +2.4%Above the >0% benchmark.
- Liquidity & cash
- Unrestricted current ratio 2.19×, 11.3 months cash; debt service cover 4.40× (all pass)Liquidity, cash cover and debt service cover all above benchmark.
- Infrastructure
- Backlog 6.2% and asset maintenance 94.0% both miss; renewals 188.1% passesThe infrastructure-backlog and asset-maintenance ratios miss their benchmarks this year (2024–25: backlog 6.5%, maintenance 94.5%, renewals 159.3%).
- Self-funding
- Own-source revenue 59.7% (just misses)Just under the >60% benchmark, so the council leans slightly more on grants and contributions than the benchmark sets.
- Domestic waste charge (2023–24)
- $450 / yearA separate annual charge that funds the bin service ($472 in 2024–25).
| Indicator (2023–24) | Kempsey | Meets? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2.4% | > 0% | Yes | |
| 59.7% | > 60% | No | |
| 2.19× | > 1.5× | Yes | |
| 4.40× | > 2× | Yes | |
| Rates & charges outstanding (uncollected) | 7.5% | < 10% | Yes |
| 11.3 months | > 3 months | Yes | |
| 6.2% | < 2% | No | |
| 94.0% | > 100% | No | |
| 188.1% | > 100% | Yes |
Kempsey Shire 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. Kempsey met 6 of the 9 benchmarks in 2023–24 — the misses were own-source revenue (59.7%, just under the >60% mark), the infrastructure backlog (6.2% against a <2% benchmark) and asset maintenance (94.0% against >100%). The OLG classifies Kempsey as a Regional Town/City council (Group 4), so it is benchmarked at under 10% for rates outstanding (metropolitan councils are benchmarked at under 5%). The OLG's 2024–25 time-series shows the infrastructure ratios shifting slightly: backlog 6.5%, maintenance 94.5%, renewals 159.3%. 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.