AMHERST -  A group of Amherst residents irate about tax abatements granted by Lorain for areas served by Amherst Schools has prompted talk of Amherst annexing that portion of the neighboring city.

But Amherst officials shot down such talk on Friday, saying it just isn’t likely to go anywhere.

“There has been an over-reaction to the whole thing and how it’s being perceived,” Amherst Mayor David Taylor said Friday. “I believe annexation efforts are illadvised and shortsighted. That’s not the way to go. That would cause more problems that it would solve.”

He said a citizens committee discussing possible steps Amherst could take regarding the tax-abated areas included talk of possible annexation, but the proposal was not discussed in detail, Taylor said.

“Exact areas of annexation were not outlined,” he said. “They presented an overall picture but nothing specific. No decisions were made and no other meetings were slated. I was lukewarm on this from the get-go.”

Lorain Mayor Tony Krasienko said it is his understanding that all Lorain residents would have to approve the annexation. And, since the hypothetical annexation area would include the city’s largest employer, Community Regional Medical Center, he said there’s no way the city would give it up.

And that’s just one of the businesses that would be lost if such an annexation ever came to fruition, amounting to roughly $2.7 million in lost income tax dollars, said Karen Shawver, the Lorain treasurer.

Amherst Councilman Joe Gambish, a member of the group fighting what are known as Lorain’s Community Reinvestment Areas, said the annexation proposal is simply one on the table – one that he acknowledged would be incredibly complicated to complete.

Other more-likely options include filing a lawsuit over the CRAs and seeking support in the state legislature to clear up the state law as far as municipal taxing boundaries.

Gambish and the group is upset that when residents of the Amherst school district approve a tax levy, it doesn’t end up being proportionally charged to residents because those in the CRA areas are exempt. That means the rest must pay more, he said.

“We’re being taxed by people we don’t elect and who don’t represent us,” Gambish said.

The areas in question are north of Cooper Foster Park Road, west of Oberlin Avenue, north of Jaeger Road and west to Oak Point Road.

There, Lorain established the CRAs – which by law are designed to encourage development – granting some residents a 10-year, 100 percent property tax abatement followed by five years with a 75 percent abatement.

After a legal battle, it was agreed that residents who built between April 18, 2006, and Feb. 17 of this year will get the originally proposed 15-year, 100 percent abatement promised when the CRAs were created in 2006.

Taylor, the Amherst mayor, said he isn’t crazy about legislation or actions taken by one city that produce a negative impact on another community’s residents or schools as is the case with the Lorain abatements.

“That’s not good practice,” he said. “As long as it affects their own residents, and no one else, that’s different. But the city of Lorain does not represent our interests.”

Meanwhile, Lorain Auditor Ron Mantini said when the abatements end, Amherst will benefit because many of the homes in the CRA are higher-end properties.

Gambish, however, said the city and the schools shouldn’t have to wait simply because a neighbor ignored the consequences of a decision that affected others.

“Lorain just wants the income tax money,” he said. “Lorain has a track record of being a terrible neighbor, not only to Amherst. Who knows what type of policy they’ll come up with in the future? That’s why I think it’s important to take Lorain City Hall out of the equation somehow, whether it’s through stopping at the border, annexation or litigation.”

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