Margaret Smith Reif’s Record as our County Controller

The County Controller oversees how our tax dollars are spent. Here’s what the office has accomplished so far under Margaret’s leadership, grouped by her three guiding principles:

Transparency

  • ☆ Margaret Reif created a social media presence for the office of Chester County Controller.
  • ☆ Developed a shorter, easy-to-read version of the County's annual financial report for the public.
  • ☆ She has alerted officials about the County's rising debt ratios.
  • ☆ Investigated tips submitted through the Waste Fraud and Abuse Hotline, which led to the PA Attorney General bringing criminal charges against the former Sheriff and her office.
  • ☆ Alerted the public to a mistake involving vaccine permits and distribution in the County.

Efficiency

Under Margaret Reif's leadership, the office of the Chester County Controller has streamlined processes neglected for years - saving taxpayer dollars across the board. Just a few examples:

  • ☆ Streamlined the phone plans used by County employees, significantly reducing this $1M+ annual expense
  • ☆ Found discrepancies in adherence to County overtime policy that are now monitored for compliance 
  • ☆ Reduced expensive credit card use
  • ☆ Outsourced routine court audits 
  • ☆ Continues to personally oversee the complex process of outsourcing Payroll for over 2,500 County employees - formerly a paper process dependent on a single person.
  • ☆ Automated Accounts Payable and Auditing processes and software by using CARES funding, which has enabled remote working capability and eliminates the old, tremendously inefficient manual paper-based processes that completely failed during the pandemic.
  • ☆ Currently automating a system to scan and check documents.

Accountability

  • ☆ The very first member of the half-billion-dollar Retirement Board to earn certification as a Public Pension Professional and to attend and actively participate in state-wide conferences
  • ☆ Investigated significant dysfunction with the Rover transportation system experienced by some of our most vulnerable seniors, and elevated findings to County officials which resulted in the creation of a Task Force to fix the problems
  • ☆ Went to court in a very public trial to ensure that corrupt elected officials faced justice