My dad worked at a public university where his department would charge for services provided to other departments at the university. At the end of the year the

My dad worked at a public university where his department would charge for services provided to other departments at the university. At the end of the year the department's surplus went to a general fund (and I think this was also a factor in deciding future budget allocations for the department). So everyone in his department was incentivized to buy equipment they didn't actually need so that they didn't "lose" their money. The old, perfectly working, hardware would be put out into hallways and get thrown away in the trash. Granted a public university is a lot different from an actual government department.