A nonprofit opposed to the construction of a grain elevator in St. John the Baptist Parish sued the company behind the project, Greenfield Louisiana, along with the parish’s tax assessor, arguing Greenfield is being shielded from $209 million in property taxes.

The Descendants Project, founded by twin sister Jo and Joy Banner, said in a lawsuit that the St. John the Baptist Parish assessor should ignore the arrangement and collect the money.

The Descendants Project filed a lawsuit with the 40th Judicial Court of St. John Parish on Friday. The group argues that tax assessor, Lucien Gauff III must ignore the arrangement — which takes the form of a cooperative endeavor agreement (CEA) between Greenfield and the Port of South Louisiana — and treat the property at hand as taxable. 

“The lack of due diligence, along with the Port’s actions that have kept this deal hidden from public scrutiny is not only unfair, but it’s extremely unsafe,” Joy Banner said in a press release on Monday. “It’s sad that we as private citizens are forced to do the jobs of our public officials, but we will not sit back silently while a dangerous facility gets hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks.”

Greenfield bought the tract of land at issue, which comprises some 1,100 acres, for $40 million in 2021. The company plans to build a large grain elevator on the property, worth more than $400 million, that would include more than 50 grain silos, a conveyor belt, railroad infrastructure and a dock. A study produced by the economic development agency Greater New Orleans, Inc., found that the grain elevator project would produce, among other things, 100 direct jobs.

The project, though, is behind schedule due to “​​environmental opposition,” Paul Matthews, CEO of the port wrote to port commissioners last year. Greenfield missed its initial $4 million payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) that was due to the port at the end of 2022, per the CEA the port approved in April, 2022. 

The CEA would save Greenfield more than $200 million in ad valorem taxes, or property taxes, over its 30-year lifespan, according to an analysis produced by Together Louisiana, a network of grassroots organizations, during which time the port would collect nearly $7 million in administrative fees. 

The CEA is essentially a sham, or a simulation, the nonprofit argued in its lawsuit, saying that there was no bona fide transfer of property from Greenfield to the port. In other words, the nonprofit said, Greenfield retains all the rights and responsibilities of ownership, without the burden of paying $209 million in ad valorem taxes. 

“Here, Greenfield and the Port have pretended to transfer the property from Greenfield to the Port, but they actually intend Greenfield to retain all elements of practical ownership of the property,” the petition reads. “The taxation of the land should be as it always was.”

The Descendants Project made the same argument to Gauff late last year. 

Gauff told The Lens on Monday that the decision to treat the property as taxable or not is outside of his control. 

“My only comment is that the fight the Descendants Project has with me has to be decided by a judge,” Gauff said by email. “There are many cases in which precedence has been set and can only be changed by a judge, not by an Assessor. The Descendants Project fight is not with me, it’s with the justice system and Greenfield.”

A Greenfield spokeswoman said in a written statement that the plan will net more than $300 million in tax revenue for the parish over 30 years, which will help fund priorities such as schools, better roads and public safety.

Editorial note: David Lanser, an attorney at Most & Associates — the firm representing the Descendants Project — is the partner of Marta Jewson, a staff writer at The Lens.