Utah Civic GuideSalt Lake County · Utah · nonpartisan
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County

Chris Harding

County Auditor · Countywide

OfficeCounty AuditorDistrictCountywidePartyRepublicanTerm endsJan 2027Next electionNov 3, 2026 vs. Ali Cloward (D)Raised$4,458Serving since2022

At a glance

  • County Auditor since 2022 (party-filled vacancy), then won Nov 2022 with 56.1%.
  • CPA, CIA and CFE credentials.
  • Office has posted 60+ audit reports in 2025–26 (travel, payroll, procurement).
  • On the Nov 3, 2026 ballot vs. Ali Cloward (D).
Open compare
Analytical assessment, not factLow confidence
OverallLean conservative
FiscalLean conservative
Social
Very liberalModerateVery conservative

Lean conservative (fiscal), social unknown.

Evidence behind this assessment
  • No votes. Outside CPA consulting firm (CPA Insight Solutions) disclosed.
  • 2026 campaign modest ($18K raised).

Rating method

Ask about this official's record

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Full details below are grouped by area. Facts link to public sources; "[COMPUTED]" marks derived dates.

Votes & record
  • The Audit Services Division publishes performance, payroll, travel, and follow-up audits, plus annual fraud-hotline reports and audit plans. More than 60 reports were posted for 2025–2026 alone, including countywide travel (Jun 25, 2026), contracts and procurement, jail facilities, and DA–SLC interlocal audits. (Audit reports index; 2026 audit plan; Fraud hotline 2025 report)
Campaign finance

Source: EasyVote (filer "Harding, Chris").

Report (submitted) Contributions (period) Expenditures (period) Ending balance
2022 cycle (aggregate through YE 2022, filed 01/17/23) $13,853.96 $9,552.68 $4,301.28
YE 2023 (01/29/24) $4,289.26 $467.18 $8,123.36
YE 2024 (01/13/25) $0 $292.65 $7,830.71
YE 2025 (01/30/26) $0 $682.56 $7,148.15
Mar 2026 interim (04/05/26) $4,458.36 $1,858.36 $9,748.15
Pre-primary (06/16/26) $5,159.11 $2,820.11 $12,087.15
Sep 2026, period ending Sep 10 (09/15/26) $8,388.21 $5,024.51 $15,450.85
  • 2026 aggregate: $18,005.68 raised and $9,702.98 spent (Sep 2026 report).
  • The opponent's (Cloward) filings were not reviewed.
Disclosures

The 2026 COI disclosure (dated 12/17/2025) lists:

  • employer: Salt Lake County (Auditor)
  • Owner of CPA Insight Solutions, which "provides audit services, agreed-upon procedures (AUPs), and consulting services to public sector organizations"
  • owner of a short-term rental business
  • outside income of $5,000 or more: none
  • stock holdings of $5,000 or more: none
  • board positions: none

2026 PDF; 2025 PDF

Election history
Year Result Source
2022 Harding (R) 190,687 (56.07%) vs David M. Muir 149,372 2022 results
2022 (Feb) Republican central-committee special election to fill the vacancy (result not independently verified here) SLCo GOP
Lobbying & ethics
  • No lobbyist ties or official ethics complaints found.
  • The County Auditor cannot audit his own office. No external (state or peer) review of the Auditor's Office was located.
Office & term
Item Detail Source
Office County Auditor (countywide, partisan). He holds the CPA, CIA, and CFE credentials. Auditor's Office
How he took office Auditor Scott Tingley resigned in Dec 2021, and the county Republican Party held a central-committee special election to fill the vacancy (Feb 5, 2022). Harding's first EasyVote report is dated Apr 2022. He won the Nov 2022 general election. SLCo GOP notice; SLCo GOP candidate bios; 2022 results
Current term 2023–2026; it ends early January 2027 2026 Budget in Brief, p.3
Next election Nov 3, 2026: Ali Cloward (D) vs Chris Harding (R) 2026 certification; Ballot Brief
Salary (2026) $197,058 2026 Adopted Budget, p.49
Office budget (2026) Auditor $2,853,778 (17.5 FTE) plus Auditor–Tax Administration $2,407,320 (10.5 FTE) 2026 Adopted Budget
Stated affiliation
Item Detail Source
Party / ballot label Republican 2026 certification
Self-description The office page says he has over 16 years of auditing experience in local and federal government and in industry (paraphrased) and describes the mission as "independent and objective audit and property tax services." No ideological label appears on official pages. Auditor's Office
Party roles None found —
Contact (official)
Known gaps

Gaps

  • An external quality or peer review of the Audit Services Division (e.g., under IIA/GAGAS standards). GRAMA: County Auditor.
  • Whether CPA Insight Solutions has any clients that are county-related entities. GRAMA/inquiry: County Auditor; the County Ethics policy (Countywide Policy 1430) disclosure file.
  • Feb 2022 special-election vote totals. Source: Salt Lake County Republican Party (not subject to GRAMA).
About this office: Salt Lake County Auditor

The county's full-time independent watchdog and property-tax record keeper: audits county offices, mails every owner's valuation notice, runs the tax sale, and serves as clerk of the Board of Equalization.

Role
Countywide auditor; must hold a CPA, CIA, CFE, CMA or CISA certification
Hours
Full-time
Pay
$197,058
Typical week
Directing audits and reports and the property tax division; peaks around the May tax sale, July valuation notices and the fall appeal season

Responsibilities and powers

  • Performs accounting and auditing duties, gives the council a statement of county debt, and may conduct financial audits, reviews and performance audits of any county office, department or court; in a first-class county, audits follow generally accepted government auditing standards (Utah Code 17-69-301). The Auditor may not audit the Auditor's own office.
  • Required credential (first-class counties): candidates must hold an active CPA, CIA, CFE, CMA or CISA certification (17-69-202).
  • Property tax: clerk of the Board of Equalization (59-2-1001(1)); mails the Notice of Valuation and Tax Change by July 22 (59-2-919.1); conducts the tax sale of properties delinquent more than five years, traditionally in late May (Property Tax dates).
  • The office has a Property Tax Division and an Audit Services Division, takes fraud reports, and publishes audit reports and a recommendations dashboard (SLCo Auditor).
  • Four-year partisan term; on the Nov 3, 2026 ballot.

A typical week

  • Audit work [INFERRED]: planning and reviewing audits, meeting with audited departments, and releasing reports to the council and public.
  • Property tax calendar: tax sale (May), valuation notices (by July 22), BOE appeal intake and records (Aug–winter) (sources above).

Time commitment

  • Full-time [INFERRED from salary and duties].

Staff and budget

  • 28 FTEs (Auditor 17.5 + Auditor-Tax Administration 10.5) (SLCo FTE table); 2026 budget $5.4 million (Budget in Brief p.14).

Pay

  • $197,058 a year, about $64.8k in benefits (2025) (SLCo pay schedule p.48; Transparent Utah).

Sources

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Sources