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. (The OLG classifies Leeton 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.
- $1,118 / yearAbout 7% below the NSW council average of ~$1,203 (2023–24 was $1,066, vs NSW ~$1,140). A separate domestic waste charge (~$322 in 2024–25) applies. (OLG time-series data.)
- Operating performance ratio −0.4%Just below the >0% benchmark — close to breaking even, but a deficit.
- Liquidity & cash
- Unrestricted current ratio 1.44× (below benchmark); debt service cover 27.11×, 20.3 months cash (both pass)Liquidity is just under the 1.5× benchmark; cash cover and debt service cover are both comfortably above benchmark.
- Self-funding
- Own-source revenue 61.5% (passes)Above the >60% benchmark.
- Infrastructure
- Backlog 40.5% and asset maintenance 100.0% both miss (2023–24); renewals 124.3% passesThe 2023–24 infrastructure-backlog figure is high; the OLG's 2024–25 time-series shows a much lower 5.0% (definitions/measurement can shift year to year — see note below).
- 8.0%Below the under-10% benchmark that applies to rural councils.
| Indicator (2023–24) | Leeton | Meets? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| −0.4% | > 0% | No | |
| 61.5% | > 60% | Yes | |
| 1.44× | > 1.5× | No | |
| 27.11× | > 2× | Yes | |
| 8.0% | < 10% | Yes | |
| 20.3 months | > 3 months | Yes | |
| 40.5% | < 2% | No | |
| 100.0% | > 100% | No | |
| 124.3% | > 100% | Yes |
Leeton'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. Leeton met 5 of the 9 benchmarks in 2023–24. Two things stand out: the operating result and liquidity ratio are both just on the wrong side of their benchmark line (not deeply in deficit, but not clearing it either), and the reported infrastructure backlog (40.5%) is high — though the OLG's 2024–25 file shows this dropping sharply to 5.0% (and asset maintenance rising to 102.8%, renewals falling to 92.5%), which may reflect a change in reporting basis rather than a one-year turnaround; we present both years rather than picking one. Financial sustainability is an active topic for the council: in 2025 it commissioned an independent Financial Sustainability Report (University of Newcastle) and formed a Financial Sustainability Advisory Committee, after a proposed special rate variation was not adopted by councillors in 2022. 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
- Your Council (NSW Government) — Leeton · 2023–24
- Office of Local Government — Time-Series Data 2024–25 (infrastructure ratios update) · 2024–25
- Leeton Shire Council — Financial Sustainability Report, 30 June 2025 · 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.