Murrumbidgee 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 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 Murrumbidgee as a Rural council (group 9), 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

: $380 / yearAbout 68% below the NSW council average of ~$1,203 (2023–24 was $364, against a NSW average of ~$1,140). Murrumbidgee sits among the lowest average residential rates in NSW. Rate levels reflect land values and each council's rating structure — most rateable land here is farmland rather than residential — and are not a measure of the level or quality of services. A separate domestic waste charge (~$308 in 2024–25) applies, and water and sewerage are billed separately again. (OLG time-series data.)
: Operating performance ratio −13.4%Below the >0% benchmark — an operating deficit in that year.
Self-funding: Own-source revenue 36.1% (misses)Below the >60% benchmark: in 2023–24 most of the council's income came from grants and contributions rather than rates, charges and fees. Roads work in particular is largely grant-funded — of the $3.13 million capital roads program in the 2026–27 budget, the council says the majority is expected to be funded through government grants.
Liquidity & cash: Unrestricted current ratio 6.50×; debt service cover 567.67×; 19.3 months cash — all passThe debt service cover figure is unusually large; it simply reflects very little debt to service, and is reported here as extracted from the OLG file without interpretation.
Infrastructure: Backlog 0.0% and asset maintenance 197.2% both pass (2023–24); building & infrastructure renewals 74.2% missesThe OLG's 2024–25 time-series again shows a 0.0% infrastructure backlog and an asset maintenance ratio of 149.1%. See the note below on the 2024–25 renewals cell.
: 9.4%Below the under-10% benchmark that applies to rural councils.
Capital works (2026–27 budget): $7.3 million proposedIncludes $3.13 million for the capital roads program, $90,000 for irrigation and pumping infrastructure at council facilities, and $80,000 each for the Coleambally and Darlington Point swimming pools. Projects underway or in planning include library spaces at Coleambally and Darlington Point, the Coleambally depot upgrade, the Jerilderie Medical Centre and the Darlington Point Early Learning Centre.

Murrumbidgee		Meets?
−13.4%	> 0%	No
36.1%	> 60%	No
6.50×	> 1.5×	Yes
567.67×	> 2×	Yes
9.4%	< 10%	Yes
19.3 months	> 3 months	Yes
0.0%	< 2%	Yes
197.2%	> 100%	Yes
74.2%	> 100%	No

Murrumbidgee'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. Murrumbidgee met 6 of the 9 benchmarks in 2023–24. The three it did not meet sit together: an operating deficit (−13.4%), own-source revenue of 36.1% against a >60% benchmark, and building and infrastructure renewals of 74.2% against >100%. On the other side, liquidity, cash cover, debt service cover, rates collection, asset maintenance and the reported infrastructure backlog all clear their benchmarks. Two things to read carefully. First, the reported infrastructure backlog is 0.0% in both the 2023–24 and 2024–25 OLG files — a genuinely reported figure rather than a blank, but worth checking against the council's own asset management documents. Second, the OLG's 2024–25 file records the building and infrastructure renewals cell as 0.0%; we do not present that as a measured value for 2024–25, because a nil renewals ratio is not consistent with the capital roads and buildings program the council itself reports, and unreported cells in this dataset can appear as zero. We show the 2023–24 figure instead and link the source files so you can check both. Whether these numbers are 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.