Skip to main content
Bourges, in Cher
Photo (Bourges): KoS, Public domain

Centre-Val de Loire · 306,254 residents · Chair: Jacques Fleury

Cher

€437 million spent in 2025.

€1,427 per resident · Départements of the same size: €1,377

What Cher spends, by policy

  • Health and social care61%€268.8M
  • Roads and transport8%€36.5M
  • Loans: repayments and interest8%€35.1M
  • Administration and shared services7%€30.2M
  • Middle schools and education6%€27.7M
  • Fire, rescue and safety3%€14.5M
The 6 other items (6%)
  • Economy and trade2%€9M
  • Culture, sport and youth2%€7.4M
  • Town planning and housing1%€4.8M
  • Environment< 1%€1.8M
  • Passed on to other bodies< 1%€46k
  • Not assigned to a policy< 1%€1.2M

Source: 2025 accounts of Cher (DGFiP), by public policy.

Suppliers and recipients

The same €437M, by recipient.

  • Benefits paid to people45%€197.6M

    Minimum income, disability, elderly care, child welfare, accommodation.

  • Staff20%€85.5M

    Pay and contributions.

  • Companies and contractors12%€53.6M

    See the names ↓

  • Banks and lenders8%€35.1M
  • Grants and contributions5%€23.1M
  • Compulsory contributions5%€20.6M

    Including the fire and rescue service.

  • Joint bodies and syndicates1%€6M
  • Other4%€15.5M

    Councillors’ allowances, taxes paid, other costs.

Source: 2025 accounts of Cher (DGFiP).

40 contracts signed in 2025 · €16.8M before tax

Why this total differs from the €53.6M paid to companies

These are the amounts of the contracts signed in the year, over their whole length, not what was paid. The money paid in a year also goes to older contracts and to purchases too small to be published (under €40,000 excl. VAT). For a framework agreement, the amount is a ceiling.

Investment and works

€33.1M of capital spending in 2025 (building, renovation, equipment), €108 per resident. Départements of the same size: €122.

  • Rocade Nord-Ouest de Bourges2024–2025 · 2 companies€4.7M
  • Enduit Superficiels d’Usure sur des routes départementales catégorie 1 du Cher2024 · Eurovia Centre Loire€1.9M
  • Commune de Sancoins2023€1.9M
  • Commune de Vierzon2024 · Freyssinet France€1.2M
  • La maintenance et travaux d’évolution des Systèmes de Sécurité Incendie…2025 · A.E.B. Électricité€1.2M

Largest works contracted since 2023, among published contracts. Amounts planned at signature, often spread over several years.

On top of that, €3.8M paid to other bodies for their own equipment (towns, intercommunalities, associations…).

Source: 2025 accounts of Cher (DGFiP), by public policy.

Revenue and financing

Revenue: €419.8M · borrowing: €18.5M · spending: €437M.

Breakdown of resources

  • Taxes (VAT share, property-sale duties, insurance tax)62%€272M
  • State and other contributions25%€110.2M
  • Grants for works and VAT refunds3%€15.3M
  • Users and rents1%€5.6M
  • Other receipts4%€16.8M
  • Borrowing4%€18.5M

Source: OFGL, 2025 accounts of the main budget.

Debt and taxes

€755 of debt per resident

Départements of the same size: €526

6.6 years of savings to repay it

2025 accounts. Debt and taxes: OFGL, consolidated (main and side budgets). Per resident: amount divided by the population (Insee). “Départements of the same size”: median of the 26 départements of 267,000 to 501,000 residents.

The levels above Cher

Spending per resident in 2025, and what each level pays for.

  • DépartementCherMinimum income, elderly and disability care, middle schools, county roads
    €1,427
  • RegionCentre-Val de LoireHigh schools, regional trains, training, business support
    €576

Each row: the body’s own spending per resident, the figure at the top of its page (DGFiP). Not to be added up: a grant from one level is spent by another.

Who is part of Cher

Understanding these figures

Who does what

The département pays for middle schools, social help (minimum income, elderly care, disability, child welfare), départemental roads, and funds the fire and rescue service.

Official table of responsibilities (July 2025)

Why the levels are not added up

The same euro can appear twice: once when a region or a département pays a grant, again when the town spends it. Each page shows its own body’s spending.

Where these figures come from

Spending: the accounts of the main budget published by the DGFiP, by public policy. Revenue, debt and taxes: OFGL. Contracts: published contract data (DECP), amounts planned at signing.

Do you work for Cher, or sit on its council? A figure to correct, context to add: write to us.

Page edited by Qipu, independent of Cher · Sources and method

Accounts 2025 (DGFiP, OFGL). The method · See the source