AUBURN – A redrawn mall-area TIF might help pay for sidewalks along Park Avenue, more than two miles away.

Councilors approved final amendments for a tax increment finance district to pay for road improvements along Mount Auburn Avenue and Turner Street. Then, they suggested using some surplus TIF money to pay for sidewalks along Park Avenue, near Auburn’s newest elementary school.

Roland Miller, the city’s economic development director, said the sidewalks might be too far away from the mall area to get state approval. It wouldn’t hurt to ask, however.

“If that work is eligible, we’ll apply for it and do it right away,” Miller said. “If it’s not eligible, I don’t think it will jeopardize anything – it’ll just add to our discussions with the state. And we have discussions with the state every day.”

If the state agrees, money from two mall area TIFs could help pave sidewalks along Park Avenue from Court Street north to Mount Auburn Avenue.

Councilors amended TIF District 9 Monday. The district will redirect all new tax money paid from Lowes, Burger King, Lamey Wellehan and future developments along Turner Street through 2021 to pay for road improvements in the area. That amounts to $7.5 million in TIF revenue.

Councilors approved another TIF in the area in 2005 on Kohl’s and the Mt. Auburn Plaza development that includes Ruby Tuesday and the Longhorn Steakhouse. That returns roughly $1.75 million in property tax revenue to developer George Schott.

The remaining $3.1 million 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. That gives the city about $10.6 million for improvements.

The plans call for $7.2 million worth of work on Turner Street and Mount Auburn Avenue, with a list of potential work on sidewalks if there is a surplus. Councilors said they wanted to add Park Avenue sidewalks to that list.

“If part of the problem with Park Avenue is the increasing traffic from people going to the mall, I think that’s a pretty clear connection,” said city Councilor Bob Mennealy.

The state could see it differently, Miller warned. State rules say that TIF money must be spent on work related to the district itself.

“They could point out that the reason we need sidewalks there is the new school,” Miller said.

It was worth a shot, councilors agreed. They passed the resolution 5-1, with Mennealy voting against it.

Free enterprise

But sidewalks weren’t the concern for critics Monday. Jim Wellehan, owner of Lamey Wellehan Shoes, was critical of using TIFs to pay developers back. Wellehan said he didn’t get a TIF incentive to open his new store on Turner Street.

“I used an unusual financing method, called the ‘free enterprise system,'” Wellehan said. He argued that land around Auburn would be developed on its own, without city incentives.

Ron Potvin, director of the Small Property Owners of Maine, said he still had doubts about the way the city handles its TIFs. Potvin asked councilors to audit every single TIF the city has created.

“We’re not trying to be obstructionist or get anything stopped,” Potvin said. “But there have been enough irregularities in the past that we feel the city’s process for creating TIFs needs to be improved.”