DO GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS & BUREAUCRACIES EXPAND TO FILL ALL AVAILABLE SPACE?

This question in the title above is both figurative and literal In other words are budgets initially set based upon the perceived size of the problem and then once a certain equilibrium is met as far as work loads versus number of employees, is there an opportunity for a few who either by diligent work or even perhaps a slightly lower workload to actually have a little coasting time? Again if this is possible then do most of those who can finish say their 37 hour work week in say 31.5 hours wisely decide to take on some "busy" work in order to appear just that i.e. busy? Or are most government departments and bureaucracies under constant pressure to take on more work by their supervisors hence rendering alleged spare time as moot?  

For example at the start of the Elmira Crisis in 1989 I can certainly understand that the MOE/MECP were likely overwhelmed with constant requests and demands for more and more data and information most of which was not at their fingerprints.  Was there massive hiring simply because of that one major crisis or were all the current employees expected to step up, work overtime and do both their regular duties plus whatever their supervisors deemed necessary in response to the crisis? I can also understand all the Ministry's lab workers suddenly being inundated with requests for ground and surface water analyses and more. 

So I wonder where the MECP's staffing levels are today. Are they similar to what they were in 1989 prior to the Elmira crisis or did they expand and have never retrenched? All of these questions are of course relevant to the never ending tax increases that citizens are constantly subjected to. It is also relevant to the bull*%@# inflicted upon all citizens for many decades (centuries) by our governments whether municipal, regional, provincial or federal.  They constantly have told us that growth reduces individual tax requirements. What a pile of pus that has been. Population growth, economic growth, infrastructure growth are all allegedly supposed to reduce per capita taxes as we have more people sharing the burden. 

Politicians can not be charged with lying. Yes if caught in a humdinger they can lose the next election unless of course their name is Trump. Most politicians actually believe that as the anointed ones in charge that they have the right if not the duty to lie to their own citizens. Until or unless there are strong, consistent consequences for lying we the public will be cursed with unaccountable, non-transparent governance forever.