When news broke last week that the Lerner family was witholding rent payments on the new baseball stadium because they claimed it wasn’t fully complete, many residents were predictably peeved. But today the Post is reporting that the D.C. Council may take a step that will similarly annoy everyone else who attends Nats games — they might raise taxes on tickets and concessions to cover the rent shortfall.

The legislation, introduced during one of the last council sessions before the summer recess, would tack an additional 5 percent tax on the existing 10 percent tax charged on tickets and concessions. The additional tax would help make up for the $3.5 million in rent the Lerner family has refused to pay and the lower-than-expected tax draws due to low attendance.

Memo to all sides — no one is going to come out of this little battle a winner. Yes, the Lerners say they’re just sticking to the letter of the contract they signed with the city, but at the expense of what little goodwill they have left with the elected officials that voted to allow the $611 million stadium to be built. And yes, the city has every right to squeeze money out of the franchise (especially when the franchise is being stingy by, say, witholding rent and demanding $100,000 a day payments from the city until the stadium is “finished”), but a tax increase like this might end up driving more people away from games and decrease the current tax revenues even further. So what will we end up with? A crappy team with even fewer fans. Good times!

So, Ted, pay the city its rent. Vince, get your council colleagues to drop this idea of a tax increase on tickets and concessions. We’re all stuck with the team and the stadium, so starting little hissy fights over things neither of us will win won’t get anyone anywhere.