AUBURN – Concern that the city didn’t complete its paperwork when it created three tax-relief zones for developers has a property owners group worried that taxpayers will suffer.

“Our biggest concern is that we are putting money into a garage downtown and a roundabout by the mall that comes from these TIFs,” said Bruce Bickford, a member of the Small Property Owners of Auburn. “If the money is supposed to come from those TIFs, we want to make sure the things are legit.”

The TIFs, tax increment financing districts, essentially allow the city to take property taxes paid by developers in the district and return it to them as development incentive or use the taxes to upgrade roads, utilities and make other improvements in the area.

City Manager Pat Finnigan said all three districts are legitimate and have been approved by the City Council. She blamed the lack of state records on administrative foul-ups.

“I guess my concern as a taxpayer would be whether the city has properly accounted for all of the money that can be in these TIF districts,” Finnigan said. “We have done that properly. That has happened.”

City officials are scheduled to meet with the Small Property Owners of Auburn at 2 p.m. Friday in Auburn Hall to discuss the three TIF districts.

Bickford, of 64 Cameron Lane, and Brian Demers of 1085 Riverside Drive, presented a letter to the City Council Monday alleging that the state Department of Economic and Community Development does not have any information regarding three Auburn TIF districts.

The districts are:

• TIF District 9, created in 2002 in the Auburn Mall area. It was originally designed to set aside up to $6 million over 20 years to pay for road improvements around the mall, Mount Auburn Avenue and Turner Street. It has not been activated, however, and is not collecting revenue.

• TIF District 10 was also created in 2002, to pay for road, sidewalk and infrastructure improvements downtown. It was designed to set aside $4 million over 20 years. Councilors approved a $5 million bond for a parking garage in 2004. Bond payments would come out of that TIF district and parking revenues.

• TIF District 13 was created in June and returns roughly $1.75 million in property tax revenue from the Auburn Mall area to developer George Schott. The remainder of the property tax revenue on the land will be redirected into the same fund as TIF District 9, to help pay for road improvements in the area.

Each TIF was created legally and passed by a vote of the City Council, according to city Economic Development Director Roland Miller.

“That’s the most important part,” Miller said. “If the council voted on it, and it’s in the minutes, it is a TIF district.”

But cities typically send copies of TIF districts to the state’s Department of Economic and Community Development for review. The DECD issues a letter in turn, saying the district meets state requirements.

“It’s a formality, a paper-process, saying that everything checks out.” Miller said. The city is not required to get state approval before proceeding with a TIF, he noted.

Miller said he knows that the state has copies of TIF District 13 since he delivered copies himself on June 29. That district is being reviewed by staff in Augusta.

But he does not know what happened to the two earlier TIF districts. Economic development staff told him that they simply had a cover letter for TIF District 9 but had no records of TIF District 10.

Miller said he is in the process of rewriting TIF District 9 – he plans to reduce the size of the district to 61 acres – and will submit those changes to the City Council in the next few weeks.

“I am confident that will solve any problems with that TIF,” Miller said.

But Miller said he has no idea about TIF District 10, which was created to pay for downtown Auburn improvements.

“I never worked on that district, I was never consulted about it and don’t know what it says,” Miller said.

City Manager Pat Finnigan confirmed that state officials could not find information regarding the downtown TIF. She wrote the language for that district in 2002 and mailed it to the state. She does not know what happened to it after that.

“But it was mailed,” she said. “I know it was sent and things do happen. You mail something and if it gets put in the wrong file, you will never find it.”

Finnigan said the city will send the state a new copy of the downtown TIF when it amends the mall area TIF.

“I will get a receipt for it this time,” she said.

But Ron Potvin, a member of the Small Property Owners of Auburn, said he worries about city processes.

“My question is, why do we insist on doing things this way in Auburn?” Potvin said. “Auburn is in such a rush to get things finished that we skip steps. We shouldn’t. We should get approval from the state before we move on.”

Potvin is seeking one of the two at-large seats on the City Council in this November’s municipal election.