Gunnedah Shire Council will weigh up whether to run its own election again in 2020 - an undertaking that will be half the cost but "incredibly difficult".
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An independent review into the cost of running a local government election means councils have until January 2020 to decide.
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Corporate and community services director Colin Formann said the Gunnedah council was able to run its own elections in 2012 and 2016 at about half the cost a NSW Electoral Commission-run vote.
But it was a "legally complex" exercise with 18 months of preparations.
"There are a lot of rules and regulations you have to be aware of [and] it’s becoming incredibly difficult for councils to run elections themselves," Mr Formann said.
"There have been some changes to the vote-counting methods just recently, which will make it very hard for councils to run the election themselves in 2020 so that’s why a review into the pricing is very welcome."
We do it to make sure any spend on the election is spent locally and we generally do it for half the cost.
- Colin Formann, Gunnedah Shire Council
Mr Formann said Gunnedah council was one of the few in the state to successfully run its own elections.
"Councils being able to run own election is contingent on having access to those skills and abilities," he said.
"We do it to make sure any spend on the election is spent locally and we generally do it for half the cost."
The council had already started preparing a plan for the next election but will now wait on price revisions before making a decision.
"We’ll be able to look at the new prices and make an informed decision on whether we’ll do it ourselves," Mr Formann said.
"I’m hoping the review results in elections run by the electoral commission being more affordable for rural councils."
