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 last year all 9 benchmark ratios were collected on a comparable basis across every council).
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.
- $1,261 / yearAbout 11% above the NSW council average of ~$1,140; rose to $1,322 in 2024–25 (NSW average $1,203, so Liverpool sat about 10% above the NSW average that year). A separate domestic waste charge (~$605 in 2023–24, $662 in 2024–25) applies. (OLG 'Your Council' data.)
- Operating deficit — performance ratio −4.2%Below the >0% benchmark.
- Liquidity & debt
- Unrestricted current ratio 0.84× (below the 1.5× benchmark); debt service cover 1.81× (below the 2× benchmark)Cash expense cover of 11.6 months is comfortable, but the other two liquidity/debt measures sat below benchmark that year.
- Infrastructure
- Backlog 2.3% (just above the <2% benchmark); renewals 28.3% and asset maintenance 95.1% (both well below the 100% benchmark)The 2024–25 OLG data shows renewals falling further, to 12.6%, and asset maintenance to 76.6% — meaning a shrinking share of ageing infrastructure was being renewed that year.
- Self-funding
- Own-source revenue 62.9% (passes the >60% benchmark)Just above the benchmark — a majority of income is self-generated rather than grants.
- 8.5%Above the <5% benchmark that applies to metropolitan councils (Liverpool's OLG classification).
- More recent budget update (unaudited)
- Council reported a forecast $781,000 operating surplus and $433.7M in cash & investments as at its Q3 2025–26 budget reviewA different, more current management report (not the standardised OLG benchmark set above); the council said it expects to finish 2025–26 on budget. Source: council media release, 1 June 2026.
| Indicator (2023–24) | Liverpool | Meets? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| −4.2% | > 0% | No | |
| 62.9% | > 60% | Yes | |
| 0.84× | > 1.5× | No | |
| 1.81× | > 2× | No | |
| 8.5% | < 5% | No | |
| 11.6 months | > 3 months | Yes | |
| 2.3% | < 2% | No | |
| 95.1% | > 100% | No | |
| 28.3% | > 100% | No |
Liverpool'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. Liverpool met 2 of the 9 benchmarks in 2023–24 — the weakest record among the councils on this site so far, most notably on operating performance, liquidity, debt cover and — most strikingly — infrastructure renewals (28.3% in 2023–24, falling further to 12.6% in 2024–25 per the newer OLG data). A more recent, unaudited council budget update (June 2026) reports a small operating surplus and a large cash balance, which is a different, more current signal than the standardised benchmark table above — both are shown so you can weigh them yourself. (The OLG classifies Liverpool as a metropolitan council, so it is benchmarked at under 5% for rates outstanding; regional and rural councils are benchmarked at under 10%.) 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
- OLG — Time-Series Data 2024–25 (average residential rate; 2024–25 infrastructure ratios) · 2024–25
- Your Council (NSW Government) — Liverpool · 2023–24
- Liverpool City Council — Right on the money: Liverpool Council set for surplus finish (media release) · 1 Jun 2026
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.