We thought when a Joint Services Commission issued a report calling on Lewiston and Auburn to consolidate government services there would be a flurry of activity.

Then, we feared, over the long haul, the effort might lose momentum.

Boy, were we wrong.

No flurry. No momentum. If this were a horse race, the nag dropped dead at the starting gate.

Four months after the commission issued its report, the two governments basically can’t name a single thing that has been done to advance the cause of consolidation.

The commission co-chairs, Justice Robert Clifford and Donna Steckino, were charitable: “Both cities were pretty involved with just keeping themselves going,” Clifford said last week. They each had budgets to prepare and municipal property valuations to handle.

“The issue is still right at the top of everyone’s agenda,” said Steckino.

We’re not as sympathetic. The single most important thing the two cities could have done was apply for grant money to hire a “cooperation coordinator” to get this process started and keep it going.

Auburn City Manager Pat Finnigan offered to have her staff write the grant request.

This seemed like a slam-dunk for the two cities. The governor has money available for just this purpose, and the two cities would have been first in line.

A hurry-up application was submitted, but it was rejected as incomplete, and there the effort apparently died. Auburn dropped the ball. Period.

But Lewiston deserves a share of the responsibility for not pushing the issue. The city did have the time and personnel to mount a campaign for All America City status. That’s fine, but moving the consolidation effort forward was a far higher priority.

Lewiston simply chose to do something else.

The consolidation commission’s report estimated that had the cities moved forward with coordinated capital planning, purchasing and similar steps five years ago, they could be saving as much as 7 percent on their operating budgets now.

So, if you live in Lewiston and Auburn, every delay in reaching this goal is costing you money. Every month and every year that goes by adds to your property taxes.

It’s money out of your pocket being squandered on inefficiency.

There is, of course, an inherent self-preservation instinct in any bureaucracy. Everyone is always too busy to find ways to consolidate services, especially if it means cutting jobs.

Only pressure from the consolidation committee and taxpayers has any hope of keeping the two cities on task.

We promised in February that we would issue quarterly report cards to the two cities on their efforts to promote consolidation.

Unfortunately, nobody showed up for class this semester. That means an “F” grade is all we can offer.