Lachlan Shire Council budget and finances

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 NSW councils report against the Office of Local Government's benchmarks, plus per-property figures you can compare to the NSW average. One thing to know up front for Lachlan: the OLG's statewide time-series file carries no 2023–24 figures for Lachlan Shire at all — those cells are empty, which is an absence of reported data rather than a set of failed benchmarks. The ratios below therefore come from the council's own audited Annual Financial Statements for the year ended 30 June 2025, which publish all nine measures for 2024–25 with 2023–24 and 2022–23 comparatives. (The OLG classifies Lachlan as a Large Rural council, so it is benchmarked at under 10% for rates outstanding; metropolitan councils are held to under 5%.)

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.

See the full explainer, with formulas →

The numbers

: $750 / yearAbout 38% below the NSW council average of ~$1,203 — the OLG time-series shows no 2023–24 figure for Lachlan, and no average domestic waste charge for either year, so we do not state one. (OLG time-series data 2024–25.)
: Operating performance ratio −23.03%; net operating result −$3.418MBelow the >0% benchmark. Council reported total income from continuing operations of $50.922M against total expenses of $54.340M. Excluding capital grants and contributions, the result was −$10.260M. In 2023–24 the same ratio was +8.05% on a net result of +$13.996M, when grants and contributions were higher. (Income Statement, p.5; Note H1-1, p.70.)
Liquidity & cash: Unrestricted current ratio 8.63× (passes); 19.99 months cash cover (passes); debt service cover 3.68× (passes)Cash and term deposits totalled $68.610M at 30 June 2025. Debt service cover fell from 19.82× in 2023–24 to 3.68× in 2024–25 but stays above the >2× benchmark. (Note H1-1, p.70.)
Self-funding: Own-source revenue 47.52% (misses)Below the >60% benchmark, and the ratio council has missed in each of the three years shown (36.28% in 2023–24, 26.59% in 2022–23). Grants and contributions were $26.726M of $50.922M total income in 2024–25 — a common pattern for a large, sparsely populated rural shire. (Note H1-1, p.70.)
Infrastructure: Backlog 2.82% (misses <2%); asset maintenance 211.60% (passes); building & infrastructure renewals 19.76% (misses)Council's own commentary in the report says it 'continues to make progress on reducing' the backlog ratio (3.97% in 2023–24, 4.24% in 2022–23), and attributes the low renewals ratio to grant-funded construction of new assets rather than renewal of existing ones. Estimated cost to bring assets to a satisfactory standard: $18.733M. (Report on infrastructure assets as at 30 June 2025, p.8.)
: 9.87%Just inside the under-10% benchmark that applies to rural councils; $1.538M outstanding against $15.584M collectable. Was 8.37% in 2023–24 and 10.35% in 2022–23. (Note H1-1, p.70.)
This year's budget (2026–27): $58M total, including $24.5M for capital improvementsCouncil adopted its 2026–27 budget in July 2026, supported by $24.9M in Commonwealth and NSW Government grants and including $9M in grant-funded roads works. (Council media release, 15 July 2026.)

Lachlan Shire		Meets?
−23.03%	> 0%	No
47.52%	> 60%	No
8.63×	> 1.5×	Yes
3.68×	> 2×	Yes
9.87%	< 10%	Yes
19.99 months	> 3 months	Yes
2.82%	< 2%	No
211.60%	> 100%	Yes
19.76%	> 100%	No

Lachlan Shire's financial-health indicators for 2024–25, against the NSW Office of Local Government benchmarks. 'Meets?' simply states whether the figure is on the benchmark side of the line. Source: Lachlan Shire Council Annual Financial Statements for the year ended 30 June 2025 — Note H1-1 (p.70) and the Report on infrastructure assets (p.8). The OLG statewide time-series carries no 2023–24 figures for this council.

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. Two points on the sourcing. First, the NSW Government's statewide OLG time-series has no 2023–24 entry for Lachlan Shire — the cells are empty, so no 2023–24 comparison to other councils can be drawn from it; that is missing data, not a failed benchmark. We went to the council's audited statements instead, which show 5 of the 9 benchmarks met in 2024–25 and 6 of 9 in 2023–24 (operating performance +8.05%, own-source 36.28%, unrestricted current 7.44×, debt service 19.82×, rates outstanding 8.37%, cash cover 23.80 months, backlog 3.97%, asset maintenance 154.27%, renewals 40.02%). Second, where both sources publish the same year they do not fully agree: the OLG's 2024–25 file shows an infrastructure backlog of 1.4% and renewals of 131.3% against the audited 2.82% and 19.76% (asset maintenance matches at ~211%). We present the audited figures because they are the council's own signed statements with the workings shown, and note the difference rather than picking one silently. 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.