Current Belmont County Auditor, Cindi Henry is seeking re-election.

ST. CLAIRSVILLE – Current Belmont County Auditor Cindi Henry is seeking re-election.

Henry said she originally ran for the position in 2019 to complete the unexpired term of Roger Conroy, who died while in office.

“I felt as though this county needed an experienced governmental accounting auditor,” she said. “I was successful in getting that nod for two years, then I had to run again. Obviously, I did, and at that point, I was successful again in getting this job.”

Before becoming auditor, Henry spent 25 years as Richland Township fiscal officer, 20 years as an Auditor of State visiting clerk, eight years as finance director for the city of St. Clairsville and six years as fiscal manager for the Belmont County commissioners.

She said she believes her experience prepared her to understand government from every angle and to serve with knowledge, integrity and accountability.

Henry added that from the time she stepped through the door, she was confronted with failing software systems.

“We were still doing things like we did back at the turn of the century, and the goal was to change it all and get this office up to the current speed of where we’re at in today’s world,” Henry said.

“We interviewed and got a company out on the other side of Ohio [ISSG], and he’s done our real estate software, which was failing and almost gone by the time I got here. He got us up and running within six months. We got all of our paperwork filed with the state. It was fantastic.”

She said to see all of the updates her office has made during her tenure, residents can visit the Belmont County Auditor’s website. The auditor’s office still has issues that need to be addressed, according to Henry, as it currently handles about 70,000 parcels of property in the county.

One of the biggest talking points during her term has been the possibility of Ohio abolishing property tax.

“I’ll just be point blank about it. I think that the property tax situation is broken and needs to be fixed, not mandated. I feel as though there’s too many elements that they take into consideration for valuation of your property and whatnot. It needs to be dumbed down, because there’s just too many caveats that drive the numbers, and that’s my personal opinion,” Henry said.

She added that in the past year she was successful in implementing new state-of-the-art software for the county’s dog license collection, which her office oversees.

“The whole premise behind that was 30 or 40 years ago, we used to have individuals in different communities that sold dog licenses, fishing licenses and hunting licenses out of the basement of their home. That doesn’t go on anymore. I just feel as though the availability to get your license without having to travel to St. Clairsville here at the courthouse and or at the dog shelter was needed. It was ridiculous when you could set it up in the comfort of your home and get online, with everybody being techy, and order their dog license directly.”

She added that her priority as auditor has always been to safeguard tax dollars, improve access to information and serve Belmont County with professionalism and transparency.

One aspect of campaigning that Henry said she is proud of is that she does not seek donations.

She said that since she began her path as auditor, she has received $1,000 from the Belmont County Republican Party in August 2020 and $2,000 from the party in October 2020.

“They just didn’t donate to me. They donated to every Republican that was on the ticket that year,” Henry said. “I also had a private individual who gave me $200, which I have on my old campaign report. Those are the only contributions that I have ever taken for a campaign. Per se, I feel as though that’s very important, and I champion the fact that I don’t owe anyone anything.”

She said she sleeps well at night knowing she does not owe any favors to anyone.

“I don’t fix people’s taxes. I wasn’t responsible for your taxes. I was responsible for the data that got put into the software that created your taxes. I have to do what the state of Ohio tells us,” Henry said. “I have not gotten campaign donations and I haven’t asked for campaign donations. It all comes out of my pocket, and I go to bed at night and sleep quite well from that.”