Belmont County Auditor Cindi Henry Seeks Re-election
Cindi Henry, Belmont County auditor, is seeking re-election after first taking office in 2020.
Henry graduated from Union Local High School in 1975 and later earned a degree in business administration from Belmont College.
Following graduation, Henry worked at Community National Bank in Barnesville for a short time, where she said she helped identify misspent funds. She then worked for the Belmont County Prosecutor’s Office for three and a half years before becoming a dispatcher at the Ohio State Highway Patrol’s St. Clairsville Post, where she worked for nine years.
Henry later started her own business, which she operated for 14 years. During that time, she ran for Richland Township clerk in 1996 and was elected, serving in that role for 25 years. She also worked as a visiting clerk for the State of Ohio for 22 years, assisting various entities with governmental accounting and software.
In addition, Henry served as finance director for the city of St. Clairsville.
Henry’s first run for Belmont County auditor came up short. At the time, she was serving as the county commissioners’ fiscal manager. She ran again for auditor in 2020, winning the unexpired term. She was re-elected two years later to a full four-year term.
“I ran for this job because I had several people contact me about problems that were developing in our real estate office,” Henry said. “There’s not a job in the budgetary office I haven’t done myself, so I know where to go to get the answers. I had to come on board and quickly get educated.”
Henry said one of her first priorities was modernizing the office, which she said had not been updated in 20 to 25 years.
“I was able to get state of the art software for the real estate division, because the old software was falling apart at the time, and we couldn’t do our state reporting,” she said.
Last year, the auditor’s office received notice from the Internal Revenue Service for a lien related to a civil penalty.
According to Henry, the penalty was initially related to payroll tax filings and Affordable Care Act reporting requirements. The office worked with federal representatives to verify its records and confirm compliance with submission requirements.
Following a review process, the matter was cleared and the penalty removed. She stated the issue has since been resolved with no further action required.
The auditor’s office is also adding new software for budgetary operations.
“We’re totally rewriting the governmental accounting books here for the county,” Henry said. “It’s very detailed.”
Henry said her top priority is completing the implementation and training staff across the county.
The office has experienced staff turnover in recent years.
When Henry took office, several employees were already nearing retirement, leading to expected departures, according to the auditor.
In addition, the office has focused on improving efficiency and modernizing operations. She explained the office is redefining roles, cross-training staff and adjusting staffing levels to better match workload demands.
As a result, some employees chose to retire or pursue other opportunities. Despite the turnover, the office has continued to operate with a smaller staff, and Henry said efforts are focused on maintaining services.
“Serving the people of Belmont County over the past six years has been one of the greatest privileges of my professional life,” Henry said. “With more than 30 years in governmental accounting, I have dedicated my career to protecting taxpayer dollars, ensuring transparency and strengthening the financial integrity of our local governments.”
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