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.
- $875 / yearAbout 27% below the NSW council average of ~$1,203 (2023–24: $814 vs an NSW average of ~$1,140, about 29% below). The City's large commercial and CBD business rate base carries a bigger share of total rates income, which is reflected in a lower average residential figure. A separate domestic waste charge (2024–25: ~$598) applies. (OLG 'Your Council' data.)
- Operating surplus — performance ratio +0.5%Just above the >0% benchmark.
- Liquidity & cash
- Very strong — unrestricted current ratio 4.92×, ~10.9 months cashBoth comfortably above the OLG benchmarks.
- Debt
- Effectively no debt — debt service cover ratio 250.5×Far above the >2× benchmark; the council carries very little borrowing relative to its revenue.
- Infrastructure
- Backlog 2.0% (fails the strict <2% test); asset maintenance 100.7% (passes); renewals 83.9% (fails)2024–25 OLG figures (where published): backlog 2.4%, renewals 97.7% — both still below benchmark.
- Self-funding
- Own-source revenue 84.5% (passes)Above the >60% benchmark — very low reliance on grants, typical of a large CBD council with a substantial commercial ratings base.
| Indicator (2023–24) | Sydney | Meets? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.5% | > 0% | Yes | |
| 84.5% | > 60% | Yes | |
| 4.92× | > 1.5× | Yes | |
| 250.50× | > 2× | Yes | |
| 2.2% | < 5% | Yes | |
| 10.9 months | > 3 months | Yes | |
| 2.0% | < 2% | No | |
| 100.7% | > 100% | Yes | |
| 83.9% | > 100% | No |
City of Sydney'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. The City of Sydney met 7 of the 9 benchmarks in 2023–24; the two gaps are both infrastructure-renewal measures (backlog and building/infrastructure renewals), while liquidity, debt and self-funding are all very strong. (The OLG classifies Sydney as a metropolitan 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
- Office of Local Government — Time-Series Data 2023–24 (all NSW councils, benchmark ratios) · 2023–24
- Office of Local Government — Time-Series Data 2024–25 (average residential rate; 2024–25 infrastructure ratios) · 2024–25
- Your Council (NSW Government) — Sydney · 2023–24
- City of Sydney — Draft Operational Plan 2026/27 · 2026–27
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.