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.
- $1,490 / yearAbout 31% above the NSW council average of ~$1,140 (2024–25: $1,547, vs an NSW average of ~$1,203). A separate domestic waste charge (~$580 in 2023–24) applies. (OLG 'Your Council' data.)
- Operating deficit — performance ratio −5.6%Below the >0% benchmark.
- Liquidity & cash
- Strong liquidity (unrestricted current ratio 4.22×), ~9.8 months cashAbove the OLG benchmarks; debt service cover 1.29× is below the >2× benchmark.
- Infrastructure
- Backlog 5.3% (above benchmark, improved to 2.3% in 2024–25); renewals 63.1% (below benchmark)Asset maintenance also below 100% (62.3%) in 2023–24 — a sizeable, ageing western-Sydney infrastructure base.
- Self-funding
- Own-source revenue 68.4% (passes)Above the >60% benchmark.
- Domestic waste charge (2023–24)
- $580 / yearA separate annual charge that funds the bin service.
| Indicator (2023–24) | Penrith | Meets? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| −5.6% | > 0% | No | |
| 68.4% | > 60% | Yes | |
| 4.22× | > 1.5× | Yes | |
| 1.29× | > 2× | No | |
| 4.8% | < 5% | Yes | |
| 9.8 months | > 3 months | Yes | |
| 5.3% | < 2% | No | |
| 62.3% | > 100% | No | |
| 63.1% | > 100% | No |
Penrith'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. Penrith met 4 of the 9 benchmarks in 2023–24; the gaps — an operating deficit, low debt service cover, and infrastructure backlog/maintenance/renewal ratios all below benchmark — reflect the cost of renewing an established, sizeable western-Sydney asset base while the city also grows. The infrastructure backlog improved to 2.3% in the 2024–25 OLG data, though renewals (37.7%) and asset maintenance (62.8%) remained below benchmark that year. (The OLG classifies Penrith as a metropolitan-fringe 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
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.