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.
- $1,325 / yearAbout 10% above the NSW council average of ~$1,203 (2024–25). In 2023–24 it was $1,322 vs a NSW average of ~$1,140. A separate domestic waste charge applies ($516 in 2024–25). (OLG 'Your Council' data.)
- Operating surplus — performance ratio +4.1%Above the >0% benchmark.
- Liquidity & cash
- Liquidity 1.67×, 28.1 months cash; debt service cover 9.95× (all pass)Unrestricted current ratio, cash cover and debt service cover all above benchmark.
- Infrastructure
- Backlog 2.6% (misses); renewals 176.8% (passes); maintenance 93.7% (misses)Building & infrastructure renewals pass; infrastructure backlog and asset maintenance miss their benchmarks this year.
- Self-funding
- Own-source revenue 56.1% (misses)Below the >60% benchmark — the council relies more on grants and contributions than the benchmark.
- Domestic waste charge (2024–25)
- $516 / yearA separate annual charge that funds the bin service ($486 in 2023–24).
| Indicator (2023–24) | Port Macquarie-Hastings | Meets? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4.1% | > 0% | Yes | |
| 56.1% | > 60% | No | |
| 1.67× | > 1.5× | Yes | |
| 9.95× | > 2× | Yes | |
| 6.9% | < 10% | Yes | |
| 28.1 months | > 3 months | Yes | |
| 2.6% | < 2% | No | |
| 93.7% | > 100% | No | |
| 176.8% | > 100% | Yes |
Port Macquarie-Hastings 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. Port Macquarie-Hastings met 6 of the 9 benchmarks in 2023–24 — the misses were own-source revenue (56.1% against >60%), infrastructure backlog (2.6% against <2%) and asset maintenance (93.7% against >100%). The OLG classifies it as a Regional Town/City council (group 5), so it is benchmarked at under 10% for rates outstanding, not the under-5% that applies to metropolitan councils. The OLG's 2024–25 time-series shows the infrastructure ratios moving: backlog down to 1.8% (now meeting the benchmark), asset maintenance 84.7% and renewals 107.7%. 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.