Here’s our pledge: For the next two years, the Sun Journal will issue a quarterly progress report on the consolidation of municipal services in Lewiston-Auburn.

We’ll do it alone, but we’d prefer if the city managers on both sides of the river agreed to join us in issuing that quarterly statement.

We hope this will help ensure that the good work of the Lewiston-Auburn Commission on Joint Services isn’t forgotten and that the work to save money for L-A taxpayers keeps moving forward.

To our ears, the public has spoken: The time is now. A commission appointed by the councils in both cities conducted a valid, scientific study that showed that 70 percent of the Twin Cities’ residents support combining back office operations; 65 percent support standardized codes and standards; 65 percent support coordinated economic development and a majority support combining police and fire departments.

Yet, last week, when it came time to take the first step, the two councils nearly faltered. A small group of councilors felt the cities were moving too quickly to hire a full-time person to coordinate a fresh effort to combine services.

To our minds, this was among the least controversial of the commission’s recommendations. Unless someone is tasked with bringing the two cities together and setting an agenda for consolidation, it just isn’t going to get done.

Good long-term ideas have a way of dying beneath the press of everyday problems. Just approving a concept isn’t enough to ensure action.

No one needs to remind officials on either side of the river that L-A residents are among the most heavily taxed in the state, a state that is itself becoming notorious for its tax burden.

And, no one needs to point out that the villagers are at the gate brandishing pitchforks and torches. In Auburn, citizen groups have sprung up determined to force the city into cutting their future tax burden.

The joint commission has done its work – it has pointed the way toward significant savings and outlined a process for achieving those savings. But it has also warned that the rewards will only appear in the long run.

For instance, combining some services would require adoption of common computer systems. In some cases, the cities have recently purchased completely incompatible systems. The opportunity to combine services will only become realistic years down the road.

The only practical path to cheaper, consolidated services is to start now and to keep on plugging. This will require a full commitment at the top, and consistent attention to keeping the momentum going.

It would also help for the two cities to have an annual goal-setting session. Not everything can be done at once. So, decide which projects are worth exploring first and set ambitious but realistic goals for completion.

While the commission didn’t examine school systems, we hope the boards of education and superintendents on both sides of the river are smart enough to see the handwriting on the wall.

The governor has said it, other studies have said it and experience elsewhere has proven it: Working together, consolidating common services, works to save money.

We believe voters on both sides of the river would also like to see their respective school districts searching for more ways to consolidate services and reduce taxes.

Times change and people change. People who live on one side of the river work on the other. People who grew up on one side now live on the other. Most of us will spend our lives hopscotching back and forth.

It’s time government operated as seamlessly and efficiently.

Look for the first report in June.