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.
- $1,108 / yearAbout 3% below the NSW council average of ~$1,140. For 2024–25 the council's average residential rate was $1,162 (NSW ~$1,203). A separate domestic waste charge (~$347–$348) applies. (OLG 'Your Council' data.)
- Operating deficit — performance ratio −7.1%Below the >0% benchmark. Financial sustainability is a live theme for the council.
- 49.5% (below the >60% benchmark)A larger share of income comes from grants and contributions than the benchmark, typical of a large rural council with a small ratepayer base over a big area.
- Liquidity & cash
- Unrestricted current ratio 2.79× (passes); 12.6 months cash (passes); debt service cover 4.75× (passes)Liquidity, cash cover and debt service cover are all above benchmark.
- Rates & charges outstanding (2023–24)
- 10.2% (just above the <10% benchmark)Yass Valley is classified 'Large Rural', which is benchmarked at under 10% for rates outstanding.
- Infrastructure
- Backlog 3.9%, maintenance 75.3%, renewals 85.3% — all miss benchmark (2023–24)OLG's 2024–25 data shows backlog 6.2% and asset maintenance 67.4%, while renewals rose to 112.2% (passes).
| Indicator (2023–24) | Yass Valley | Meets? | |
|---|---|---|---|
| −7.1% | > 0% | No | |
| 49.5% | > 60% | No | |
| 2.79× | > 1.5× | Yes | |
| 4.75× | > 2× | Yes | |
| 10.2% | < 10% | No | |
| 12.6 months | > 3 months | Yes | |
| 3.9% | < 2% | No | |
| 75.3% | > 100% | No | |
| 85.3% | > 100% | No |
Yass Valley 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. Yass Valley met 3 of the 9 benchmarks in 2023–24 — passing on liquidity, debt service cover and cash cover, and missing on the operating result, own-source revenue, rates outstanding (10.2%, just over the <10% line) and the three infrastructure ratios. (The OLG classifies Yass Valley as a 'Large Rural' council, so it is benchmarked at under 10% for rates outstanding; metropolitan councils are benchmarked at under 5%.) Financial sustainability is a live issue: in November 2025 councillors voted not to proceed with a proposed Special Rate Variation, and the council has said this means finding around $3.5 million a year in savings. 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.