BIDDEFORD — For weeks, a citizens’ group has expressed its concerns with the way the city spends its money, its members saying they believe the city is improperly utilizing grant and taxpayer money to fund downtown revitalization efforts.

The Concerned Citizens of Biddeford also claim officials have denied access to public records.

“We have a terrible infrastructure problem in the city and it’s not being addressed. … We have roads in really terrible condition. The sewer system has ongoing upgrades. We need better internet service in Biddeford. Some of our schools need some updating,” Howard Hanson, a member of CCB, said shortly after the group formed in July.

“Most of the money is going into the downtown, so the rest of the city isn’t really getting improvements it needs,” he said.

City officials, meanwhile, have said the group is spreading inaccurate information throughout the community, distracting from the conversation of improving the city rather than contributing to it.

And an examination of public records requests favors the city’s view.

Craig Cantara, a Biddeford resident and the group’s founder, said in July he believes the city is funneling taxpayer money through nonprofit organizations to fund downtown development while ignoring the city as a whole.

“(The city is) focusing so much on Main Street, and we have real employers that employ people and add to the tax base,” said Cantara. “That shouldn’t be our responsibility. There’s businesses all over town, and the others aren’t receiving free money. We just feel that’s not appropriate.”

Cantara said he and his wife, Elizabeth, submitted 36 Maine Freedom of Access Act requests to the city requesting information pertaining to economic development and city officials. When asked about those requests on July 14, Cantara said they had all been denied by the city.

But public records show the group only submitted 20 FOAA requests. Of those 20, the city only declined to provide documents to one of them, stating it was “overly broad.”

In another instance, the documents requested were not provided because they were not available, as the city only stores emails for six months.

City Manager Jim Bennett said Wednesday that the city has not turned down any FOAA requests. Bennett said the city may ask individuals to be more specific and resubmit their requests before they are processed.

The Freedom of Access Act is the Maine state version of the federal Freedom of Information Act, both of which are designed to open government documents to the public.

“We have not turned down a FOIA,” Bennett said. “We’ve had FOIAs where, if someone owes us money from previous ones, we’re not going to process ones until they pay their bill. … If something is not defined, we will ask for clarification first.”

The FOAA that Cantara directly referenced asked for copies of all communications to and from any city employees that directly or indirectly discussed economic development from March 2011 to the present day.

A letter dated July 8 to members of the group penned by City Attorney Keith Jacques urged the group to narrow its request because “virtually everything the City does is related to economic development,” and that the documents responsive to CCB’s request would possibly number in the thousands.

Cantara said Wednesday he was mistaken in saying the group had submitted as many requests as he previously stated, and in saying that they had all been denied. Cantara also admitted to not knowing that the city responded to each FOAA request, stating that other members of the group were supposed to be in charge of handling the requests.

Cantara also said he did not know all the city’s responses had been posted publicly.

Hanson said Thursday that the group will continue examining the way tax dollars are spent locally, and that they are now working on obtaining tax forms from various downtown organizations to determine whether tax dollars are being effectively spent.

“Some of the things that need to be done obviously involve tax dollars, and we feel that the citizens of the city should have a say in how this is being done,” he said. “Just because there’s a plan to renovate the downtown and revitalize it, that’s all well and good, but is it going to be at the expense of the rest of the city?”

When asked what alleged capital improvement projects the city may be completing through nonprofit organizations, Cantara declined to comment.

“I want proof before I answer that question,” he said. “I don’t want to start trouble for anybody. We’re looking at TIFS (tax increment financing plans) and how money is being dispersed from organization to organization.”

Bennett said all of the city’s budgeting information is available online as part of public record, and that there is nothing to hide.

“Everything that we do is public. Anytime we write a check to somebody, it’s public information,” Bennett said. “Every expenditure the city writes is a public document.”

When asked if there was any truth to CCB’s claims, Bennett expressly denied the allegations.

“No, all our stuff is open,” Bennett said.

— Staff Writer Alan Bennett can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or [email protected].