ST. CLAIRSVILLE — Belmont County Auditor Cindi Henry is working to resolve a $500,000 federal tax lien against her office.

“Apparently, unbeknownst to us, back in 2019 or ’20, there was an additional form that had to be filed with regards to the Affordable Care Act, and it never got done,” Henry said. “We had no idea, nor did apparently the previous administration. So consequently, they sent a thing out that just said, ‘Hey, we’re putting a federal lien against you.’ Well, all that paperwork has now been filed, and I have talked to three different agents at the IRS and hired an attorney, and they’re telling us it’s just a matter of getting the paperwork straightened out.”

Henry said county Prosecutor Kevin Flanagan helped her identify outside counsel to assist with the matter.

Flanagan said the auditor’s office hired Taft Law of Cincinnati. He explained that while the prosecutor’s office is statutorily obligated to represent county officials in certain situations, that is not the case in all matters.

“And in this case, given the tax implications, we advised her to get outside counsel,” Flanagan said, noting that is a fairly common practice when a situation requires expertise in a specialized area such as construction issues or bond issues.

Commissioner J.P. Dutton confirmed that the board of commissioners did authorize Henry to hire outside counsel using funding she already had in her own budget for 2025. He said no additional county funds needed to be provided for her to do so. He added that the lien is concerning but does not reflect any problems with Belmont County’s finances.

“I don’t think it’s an indication of any issues with our financial footing,” he said. “It seems to be some type of procedural error that was made.”

Henry said at this point, based on conversations with the attorney that was hired and the IRS agents, she’s “not really too concerned about it.” She added that she believes it could take a year or more for the matter to be fully resolved.

A “Notice of Intent to Levy and Your Collection Due Process Right to a Hearing,” sent to the auditor’s office by the IRS and dated Feb. 4, states that the auditor’s office owes two separate amounts: $502,984.97 for the tax period ending Dec. 31, 2021 in the form of a civil penalty and $6,542.32 for the tax period ending March 31, 2024. Henry said the second figure represents a claim by the IRS that taxes for the first quarter of 2024 weren’t reported right or paid on time.

“I have reviewed it frontwards, backwards and upside down and cannot figure out what they’re talking about,” she said regarding the 2024 amount. “… I’ve actually put a request in for them to give me documents to show why they think that it wasn’t paid or wasn’t paid on time. I’m waiting on them to hear back from that one. But the other one’s nothing but paperwork. There’s no money involved in any of that, other than what they were going to fine me.”

Henry said the Affordable Care Act requires her to file a 1095 form showing which county employees are and are not covered by health insurance. She said her office apparently did not also file a form 1094C, which she said basically reports the same information.

Now, she said, her office is in a “holding pattern,” awaiting a resolution with the IRS.