Lewiston’s leaders made a mistake when they booked revenue from a deal before it was a sure thing. They should have known better.

Last year, the city tried to privatize its landfill by turning over day-to-day operations to Casella Waste Management. The deal was blocked by the attorney general because state law prohibits the creation of new commercial landfills. In the AG’s opinion, Lewiston’s deal with Casella translated into the same thing.

The deal with Casella also involves the importation of out-of-state waste into Lewiston.

State Sen. Scott Cowger, D-Hallowell, the chairman of the Legislature’s Natural Resources Committee, doesn’t like the idea of the state becoming the dumping ground for junk from other states. He introduced legislation, which passed the Natural Resources Committee last week, to temporarily prohibit municipal facilities from importing out-of-state waste.

Despite the legal hurdles already before them, the city moved forward, inserting $1.1 million of revenue into the budget for next year.

Now the city is trying to get the Legislature to carve out a specific exemption in state law that would allow the deal with Casella to go forward.

Lewiston’s delegation in Augusta is in a pickle. They’re not convinced that allowing out-of-state debris into Lewiston is a good idea. And there are legitimate concerns. How depressing would it be to have truck after truck of waste from other states arriving in Lewiston to drop their loads? What would that do to the city’s recently restored image?

At the same time, it’s clear what will happen if the delegation doesn’t act. The city will either raise property taxes or cut spending – maybe in the crucial area of education – to make the books balance.

The state has increased funding to schools in Lewiston significantly, which could allow the school to hire more English language specialists among other things. Now, some of that funding could be siphoned away to make up for this busted deal.

It’s an unfair situation.

Lewiston knew – or should have known – that there were significant obstacles to the agreement with Casella. The money was put in the budget anyway.

We’re not entirely convinced that the residents of Lewiston understand what could happen at the landfill if this deal were allowed to go through or whether they think it’s worth the $1.1 million the city will receive in return.

The city has to complete its budget by the end of May. That doesn’t leave a lot of time to work this out, despite its controversial nature.

The idea of adding Lewiston as a link in the chain of waste importation into the state should be fully and publicly explored before this goes any further. Perhaps even a public referendum – along with the necessary education campaign about the issue – would be a good idea.

Turning over the landfill to Casella has not gotten the attention it deserves. It’s time to take a hard, public look before it’s too late.