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.
- $1,146 / yearAbout 5% below the NSW council average of ~$1,203. In 2023–24 it was $1,073 (NSW ~$1,140). A separate domestic waste charge applies. (OLG 'Your Council' data.)
- Operating surplus — performance ratio +6.2%Above the >0% benchmark.
- Liquidity & cash
- Strong liquidity (3.52×), 9.3 months cash; debt service cover 15.37× (passes)Unrestricted current ratio, cash cover and debt service cover all comfortably above benchmark.
- Infrastructure
- Backlog 1.8% (passes); renewals 168.9% (passes); maintenance 198.2% (passes)All three infrastructure ratios pass the benchmark in 2023–24.
- Self-funding
- Own-source revenue 52.0% (misses)Below the >60% benchmark — as a large rural council, Parkes relies more on grants than a metropolitan council would.
- Rates & charges outstanding (2023–24)
- 10.9% (just misses)Marginally above the <10% benchmark that applies to large rural councils.
- Average domestic waste charge (2024–25)
- $469 / yearA separate annual charge that funds the bin service (2023–24: $430).
| Indicator (2023–24) | Parkes | Meets? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6.2% | > 0% | Yes | |
| 52.0% | > 60% | No | |
| 3.52× | > 1.5× | Yes | |
| 15.37× | > 2× | Yes | |
| Rates & charges outstanding (uncollected rates) | 10.9% | < 10% | No |
| 9.3 months | > 3 months | Yes | |
| 1.8% | < 2% | Yes | |
| 198.2% | > 100% | Yes | |
| 168.9% | > 100% | Yes |
Parkes 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. Parkes met 7 of the 9 benchmarks in 2023–24 — the two misses were own-source revenue (52.0% against a >60% benchmark) and rates & charges outstanding (10.9%, just over the <10% line). The OLG classifies Parkes as a large rural council, 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 moving: backlog 2.6%, maintenance 104.0%, renewals 101.6%. 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.