If you required users to return office equipment, would you pay them for bringing back something the company already owns? One government agency thought that was necessary.

When the federal Bureau of Engraving and Printing (the group that designs our currency, among other things) needed to cut costs, it decided to consolidate some of its office printers. To ensure sensitive information doesn’t fall into the wrong hands, about 530 senior employees have their own personal printer.

In a smart economy move, the agency decided it could do with a few, secure networked printer, with low running costs. The new printers could be set to hold jobs securely until the employee who sent the print job walk up and entered a PIN number. A good plan, but here’s where things get interesting:

Instead of asking (or telling) the employees to turn in the federally owned devices, the agency offered $75 gift cards to employees for handing the printers over — essentially buying back their own equipment.

Some government watchdogs did the math and figured out it would cost taxpayers around $40,000 for something that could easily be done for free. Representative Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee said the plan “defied common sense,” the Washington Post reports.

After the outcry, the BEP cancelled the program — not just the gift card portion, they cancelled the entire plan to swap the printers. No word on exactly why.

Tags: BEP, Bureau of Engraving and Printing, office equipment, printers