Why So High

I have never understood why it costs so much to do some of these government jobs. For example, they have to constantly take graffiti off the exit signs on some of the freeways here in the valley. They say it costs well over a hundred thousand dollars to clean this stuff up. Why? There is no way a new sign costs that much. And most of the time, you could just cover up the graffiti with paint. It seems like such a simple task, but the costs always, always seems to be high. The government here is complaining that they have no money and have budget problems. I really can imagine why.