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.
- $1,751 / yearUp from $1,497 in 2023–24. About 46% above the NSW council average of ~$1,203 — reflecting a multi-year Special Rate Variation (see Rates & fees). A separate domestic waste charge applies.
- Domestic waste charge (2024–25)
- $289 / yearUp from $281 in 2023–24 — notably low relative to many NSW councils. A separate annual charge that funds the kerbside bin service.
- Operating surplus — performance ratio +3.6%Above the >0% benchmark.
- Liquidity & cash
- Unrestricted current ratio 2.14× (passes), 8.4 months cash (passes), debt service cover 3.35× (passes)Liquidity, cash cover and debt service cover all above benchmark.
- Self-funding
- Own-source revenue 53.2% (misses)Below the >60% benchmark — a larger share of income comes from grants and contributions.
- Infrastructure
- Backlog 1.2% (passes); maintenance 92.2% (misses); renewals 41.9% (misses)Backlog is comfortably under benchmark, but asset maintenance and renewals fall short of their >100% benchmarks this year.
| Indicator (2023–24) | Queanbeyan-Palerang | Meets? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.6% | > 0% | Yes | |
| 53.2% | > 60% | No | |
| 2.14× | > 1.5× | Yes | |
| 3.35× | > 2× | Yes | |
| Rates & charges outstanding (uncollected) | 8.8% | < 10% | Yes |
| 8.4 months | > 3 months | Yes | |
| 1.2% | < 2% | Yes | |
| 92.2% | > 100% | No | |
| 41.9% | > 100% | No |
Queanbeyan-Palerang'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. Queanbeyan-Palerang met 6 of the 9 benchmarks in 2023–24 — the misses were own-source revenue (53.2% against >60%), asset maintenance (92.2% against >100%) and building & infrastructure renewals (41.9% against >100%). (The OLG classifies QPRC as a 'Regional Town/City' council, so it is benchmarked at under 10% for rates & charges outstanding; metropolitan councils are benchmarked at under 5%.) The OLG's 2024–25 time-series shows the infrastructure ratios moving: backlog 1.4%, maintenance 94.6%, renewals 70.7%. 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.