In comedy, timing is everything.

Maybe that’s true in tragedy as well.

When Lewiston City Administrator Jim Bennett went before the City Council on Tuesday night asking for more money for the Colisee and a parking garage, there was a collective cringe. The timing just couldn’t be worse.

We are less than six weeks away from an election in which voters will be asked to cap local governments’ ability to raise revenue through property taxes. The tax cap is a bad law that would hurt municipal services, hamper local control of government and likely lead to the creation of new taxes and fees. There are parts of the proposal that are probably unconstitutional and even some of the cap’s most significant backers recognize its serious flaws.

We hope that voters who take time to examine the plan and its effects won’t support it. But proponents of the cap have a simple message and offer a simple solution to a very complex problem: The government doesn’t respect taxpayers’ money and spends too freely. So it’s time to show government officials who’s boss.

Bennett’s appeal for $1.1 million in additional bond money – and the City Council’s decision to say yes – plays right into that rhetoric.

Unfortunately, Lewiston leaders had little choice but to OK the bonds. The projects have already begun, and they shouldn’t be scrapped just because moving forward is politically difficult.

City leaders have committed to the parking garage and the Colisee. There is little choice but to finish the work – and pay the political price for bad timing.