Budget & finances
Comparing raw dollar totals between councils isn't very useful — bigger councils naturally have bigger numbers. What tells you about a council's financial health are normalised indicators: the standard ratios every NSW council reports against the Office of Local Government's benchmarks, plus per-property figures you can compare to the NSW average. The dollar figures below are from the council's audited 2024–25 statements; the benchmark-ratio table is the latest complete comparable year (2023–24) — see the note under it for why.
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.
- $1,788 / yearAbout 49% above the NSW council average of ~$1,203 — among the higher range of NSW councils. Rates reflect land values, service levels and any special variations; a separate waste charge (~$572) applies. (OLG time-series data, 2024–25.)
- Borrowings per resident (30 Jun 2025)
- ≈ $379Loans $30.9M ÷ ~81,600 residents — down from $42.1M a year earlier.
- −$4.5M (2023–24) → +$37.5M (2024–25)The 2024–25 surplus is almost entirely one-off Shell Cove land sales; set those aside and day-to-day operations run close to break-even (~$3.5M). (Audited statements / Audit Office report.)
- 2024–25 capital works program
- $58.9 millionPlanned infrastructure spend; $33.4M delivered across 77 projects (2024–25).
- Where operating money goes (2024–25)
- Leadership $55.7M · Community $32.7M · Environment $29.1M · Economy $118.9MExpenditure by focus area (Note B1-1); total $236.4M. 'Economy' is inflated this year by the one-off Shell Cove land development — see the Your rates page.
| Indicator (2023–24) | Shellharbour | Meets? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| −3.3% | > 0% | No | |
| 74.3% | > 60% | Yes | |
| 2.66× | > 1.5× | Yes | |
| 5.05× | > 2× | Yes | |
| 4.6% | < 10% | Yes | |
| 15.1 months | > 3 months | Yes | |
| 1.4% | < 2% | Yes | |
| 111.7% | > 100% | Yes | |
| 96.6% | > 100% | No |
Shellharbour's financial-health indicators against the NSW Office of Local Government benchmarks. Kept at 2023–24, the latest complete comparable year: from 2024–25 OLG removed these ratios from the audited statements (they're under review), and a 2024–25 reading would be flattered by the one-off Shell Cove land sales. 'Meets?' states whether the figure is on the benchmark side of the line. Source: 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. Shellharbour met 7 of the 9 benchmarks in 2023–24. The two it didn't — operating performance and asset renewals — are explained by the council as timing of the Shell Cove project and renewal contingencies; both are figures the council reports itself. For 2024–25, the infrastructure ratios OLG has published (which the land sales don't distort) weakened: asset renewal ~64% and infrastructure backlog ~3.3%, both now below benchmark. 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
- Shellharbour Council — Annual Report 2024–2025 (audited statements & Audit Office report: operating result, borrowings, focus-area expenses) · 30 Jun 2025
- OLG — Time-Series Data 2024–25 (average residential rate; 2024–25 infrastructure ratios) · 2024–25
- OLG — Time-Series Data 2023–24 (the comparable 9-ratio benchmark table above) · 2023–24
- Your Council (NSW Government) — Shellharbour · 2023–24
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.