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, the latest year the full set of 9 ratios was collected on a comparable basis. Tweed is classified 'Regional Town/City' by the OLG, so — unlike the Sydney-area councils on this site — it's benchmarked against the <10% (not <5%) rates-outstanding threshold.
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.
- $1,659 / yearAbout 45% above the NSW council average of ~$1,140. A separate domestic waste charge (~$481) applies. By 2024–25 these had risen to $1,745 (rate) and $507 (waste), against a NSW average residential rate of ~$1,203. (OLG 'Your Council' data.)
- Liquidity & cash
- Very strong — unrestricted current ratio 5.71×, cash cover 30.9 monthsWell above the OLG benchmarks (>1.5× and >3 months).
- Debt
- Debt service cover 5.93×Well above the >2× benchmark — Council can comfortably service its debt from operating income.
- Infrastructure (2023–24)
- Backlog 4.2% (misses); renewals 173.8% and maintenance 106.6% (both meet)The newer, partial 2024–25 OLG data (collected while the ratio set is under review) shows backlog widening to 4.8% and renewals rising further to 233.4%, but asset maintenance falling to 75.3% — below benchmark that year.
- Domestic waste charge (2023–24)
- $481 / yearA separate annual charge that funds the bin service; rose to $507 in 2024–25.
| Indicator (2023–24) | Tweed | Meets? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9.5% | > 0% | Yes | |
| 61.4% | > 60% | Yes | |
| 5.71× | > 1.5× | Yes | |
| 5.93× | > 2× | Yes | |
| 5.0% | < 10% (regional benchmark) | Yes | |
| 30.9 months | > 3 months | Yes | |
| 4.2% | < 2% | No | |
| 106.6% | > 100% | Yes | |
| 173.8% | > 100% | Yes |
Tweed'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. Tweed met 8 of the 9 benchmarks in 2023–24 — only the infrastructure backlog ratio fell short. Because Tweed is a Regional Town/City council (not a metro or Sydney-fringe one), its rates-outstanding benchmark is <10%, not the <5% used for the metro councils on this site — Tweed's 5.0% comfortably clears either threshold. 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.