Residents Sue to Void $100 Billion SpaceX Deal Over Meeting Violations

Three residents and a local nonprofit have filed a lawsuit seeking to invalidate the tax incentive agreement that brought a $100 billion SpaceX facility to Vermilion Parish. The plaintiffs allege that parish officials violated state open meetings laws during the process, a ruling that could void the deal if the court grants the requested relief.

The legal challenge centers on eight specific violations that occurred during four meetings held in July and August. Five of these alleged infractions involve the Vermilion Parish Police Jury, while three target the Vermilion Parish Industrial Development Board. The group argues these actions constituted a coordinated effort to hide key decisions from the public.

The timeline of the disputed actions began on July 15, when the police jury approved a settlement with ExxonMobil. This agreement released 125,000 acres of coastal marshland for the project. The lawsuit claims the settlement was not on the public agenda and was added without a formal motion, meaning residents received no prior notice of the vote.

Shortly after that vote, the jury moved to revive the Industrial Development Board, an entity that had been inactive for nearly 30 years. The suit alleges the jury amended the agenda mid-meeting to appoint seven members, a maneuver permitted only in emergencies under state law. On August 25, this board approved the Payment in Lieu of Taxes agreement, which exempts the Starbase Louisiana site from local property taxes in exchange for an annual payment of $25 million to local authorities.

The plaintiffs, including Robert Young and Rebecca Young of Abbeville and Cheryl Choate of Pecan Island, are represented by New Orleans attorney William Most. They argue that the lack of proper notice and the absence of livestreamed meetings, required for jurisdictions with populations over 25,000, deprived the public of its right to observe the proceedings.

Vermilion Parish Police Jury President Chad Vallo deferred comments to the parish attorney, who did not respond in time for publication. Governor Jeff Landry, a vocal supporter of the deal, has previously defended the secrecy surrounding such agreements. He stated in a recent press event that he did not want other states to know what Louisiana was working on, a strategy he said had previously cost the state major investments.

The lawsuit is scheduled for review in the coming weeks. The PILOT agreement itself has been made public, detailing the financial terms and jobs benchmarks for the SpaceX project. The plaintiffs maintain that their goal is not to stop the construction of Starbase Louisiana but to ensure that the legal foundations of the tax deal are sound.