Margaret Smith Reif is the first Democrat and first woman to hold the position of Controller for Chester County.

She grew up on Long Island, NY, and graduated from the University of Scranton with a degree in Economics and Finance. Margaret and her husband Joe have been married for 28 years and have lived in Downingtown since 1992. They have two sons, Matthew, a graduate of Millersville University with a degree in Public Relations, and Stephen, a graduate of the Downingtown STEM Academy, who is now studying at Penn State University.

Margaret is a natural leader. She served as Home and School President of St. Joseph’s School in Downingtown, was a founding member of Justice4PaKids (dedicated to stopping child sexual abuse through education), recruited for Immaculata University, and created Chester County Marching Forward (a progressive, non-partisan community group whose mission is to inform and engage county residents to be active civic participants).

She worked as Controller for the non-profit Youth Mentoring Partnership (YMP) in Malvern, where she had responsibility for budgeting, Accounts Payable/Receivable, Payroll, tax filings, audits, and financial reports. This role prepared her well for her current position as Chester County Controller, which she first ran for and won in 2017. Her strengths include the ability to:

• ☆ Review budgets and financials with an eye for determining their strengths and weaknesses
• ☆ Streamline record keeping methods
• ☆ Identify opportunities for significant cost savings that don’t sacrifice quality or service

Margaret and works every day to bring transparency, efficiency, and accountability to Chester County government.