BATON ROUGE — The mayor-president said Wednesday that the city-parish will return millions of dollars to the federal government because local officials couldn't provide supporting documents for affordable housing projects, as required by U.S. guidelines.

East Baton Rouge was awarded a $5.5 million grant in 2021 to support affordable housing through the Emergency Rental Assistance Program. Mayor-President Sid Edwards said that after taking over from his predecessor, his administration couldn't find adequate proof to justify the spending.

"Because the grant expired on January 28 and the documentation requirements were not met, the funds could not legally be drawn down," Edwdards said in a statement. "As a result, the money is being returned to the federal government."

Separately, Edwards said, the Housing for Heroes project was scrubbed after a developer was indicted last year.

"Regarding Housing for Heroes, those contracts have been canceled due to nonperformance, and we will be returning that $5 million to the U.S. Department of the Treasury," Edwards said. The City-Parish will also seek restitution for funds paid to the developer. They totaled just under $1 million toward the end of 2025.

"While we never want to send funding back, we have an obligation to follow federal law and protect the integrity of public funds," Edwards said.

WBRZ reported in December that developer Bradley Brown had been named in fraud and theft-related counts tied to the alleged misuse of American Rescue Plan Act funds totaling more than $6 million. The entire Housing for Heroes project was to have cost about $11 million and cater to health care workers and professionals.