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In Griswold, the Board of Finance is preparing to take a close look at combining or reducing to part-time several positions in the land-use department responsible for planning, zoning and building permits. The town is also considering elimination of the sanitarian position and instead joining the Uncas Health District to address health and sanitation responsibilities.

In Ledyard, Town Councilor Linda Davis, chairman of the council's Land Use, Planning and Public Works Committee, has written to council Chairman Terry Jones recommending similar adjustments. Ms. Davis said it may be time to reduce the zoning enforcement and building officials to part-time and trim the clerical positions that support the department.

These kinds of conversations are probably going on among local elected officials in many of our communities. If not, they should be. Because of the deep recession, development and new construction are down in most every town. As responsible stewards of tax dollars, it is incumbent upon town officials to assess whether staffing levels in land-use departments are necessary given the building slowdown. These are tough decisions private businesses have to make - cutting or reducing positions to reflect a down business cycle, then ramping back up when the cycle turns for the better.

Towns also need to look for regional opportunities to share positions and to take advantage of the planning opportunities provided by the Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments.

It is never a good thing to see anyone lose a job or see hours cut. But neither can a municipality afford to maintain unnecessary positions simply for the sake of preserving jobs, because unnecessarily high taxes can inhibit a recovery. And homeowners, many dealing with their own job losses, work-hour reductions and salary freezes, cannot afford to pay property taxes that are any higher than necessary.

These are judgments all towns must make given their respective financial and development circumstances, but it is most definitely a conversation worth having.