Yes. I usually make this point about school systems, but it is true for all bureaucracies -- if they really do a great job, no one will vote additional funds for them. No need, right?
But if they avoid all improvement, if they do an awful job, the money will just keep flowing, they can hire their friends, then can build nice offices, they can go on junkets -- the money is rolling in! -- because they do a crappy job.
Increasingly, Los Angeles Unified School District is the same.