[Aral's eyebrows raise. That was a point that he hadn't considered: the financials.] They're either running a deficit out of petty funds or pulling something clever. Commercializing rights or something like that.

[It was downright Jacksonian. Which is entirely why it seemed plausible.] All in all, it's small change. Depending on how the laws are written, they may have simply seized the properties at base land value. The jobs themselves likely petition the government for placement, and our salaries come from the individual employer. A deficit, certainly, but they probably leak more in petty peculation every year.