Controller - Joe Rudderow
Controller’s Greeting:
It is an honor to serve as your newly elected Controller. I Officially took office on January 2, 2024, preceded by Sandy Graffius who was county Controller for 20 years. Sandy left the Controller’s Office fully staffed and ready to continue the great work of our row office. Sandy was very dedicated to the County of Berks, committed to working with the Commissioners, every row office, the Courts, and every department in County Government to ensure the success of the Controller’s office on behalf of the citizens of Berks County. Congratulations Sandy Graffius on a job well done.
First and foremost, as elected County Controller, serving the citizens of the County of Berks will always be my number one priority. My Oath of Office affirms my commitment to the Constitution of the United States, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the discharge of the duties of my office with fidelity.
Secondly it is important to develop the Controller’s Office to perform at the highest level possible through additional education, certification, and improved training of the existing staff and/or attracting new talent to join the Controller’s office. Having a trained professional staff to perform the necessary audits, prepare the annual comprehensive financial report and process accounts payable will foster improved efficiencies, greater accountability, financial accuracy, and transparency.
The role of the Controller’s office is to be independent of County government yet within County government. The Controller works with other elected officials and county employee’s but must remain independent on behalf of the taxpayer. The Controller is a row officer who is elected and answers directly to the public. It is very important that our audits and financial statements reflect an independent review of the county.
The FUFS (Friendly Understandable Financial Statement) is designed to be simple and easy to understand format. The FUFS allows the public to have a broad overview of the finances of the county without all the detail. Because the FUFS does not contain material disclosures, financial statements, notes and schedules it does not meet Generally Accepted Accounting Principles that are found in the Annual Comprehensive Financial Report (ACFR) for governments.
Both reports (FUFS) and the (ACFR) are available electronically on the County of Berks website at https://www.berkspa.gov/departments/controller select financial statements on the left-hand side.