It's actually common practice in many parts of the country. The practice is called Economic Development. Rarely used for residential purposes, but does finance commercial development and promote hiring. The funding typically comes from the calculated/expected incremental tax revenue to the area (State, Local, etc). Newark, CA in the Bay Area did this for a while (may still?).
Too funny - did the same thing in 2009 for a print on demand greeting card site. Wonder how many of these are still around. Cardstore, Greeting Card Universe, SendOutCards, etc. There was a moment ~ 13-15 years ago...
Also vividly recall buying my first Bigfoot HDD, which I think was multiple GB, thinking I'd never have use for any more storage...