The City Controller is a popularly-elected City official and serves four-year terms, staggered from Mayor and Council elections, and is not subject to term limits. The City Controller is the Chief Auditor of the City of Philadelphia and the School District. The City Controller is independent of the Mayor and City Council and is charged with auditing their operations.
Under the Home Rule Charter, City Council ordinances and state legislation, the City Controller has a number of responsibilities, in addition to auditing municipal government, including, but not limited to:
- Serve on the Board of Pensions and Retirement, which oversees the management of investments and the payment of benefits;
- Serve on the Philadelphia Gas Commission, which approves the Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) operating budget and short-term financing, and reviews and recommends PGW’s capital budget to City Council;
- Serve as a member of the Sinking Fund Commission, which oversees investment of revenues paid into a sinking fund for payment of bond principal and interest and investment of the PGW Retirement Reserve;
- Serve as a member of the Bond Committee, which approves bond issues. The City Controller certifies the City of Philadelphia’s debt capacity and the capital nature and useful life of projects built with bond proceeds;
- Serve as auditor of the Philadelphia School District;
- Evaluate the reasonableness of the assumptions and estimates in the City’s Five Year Plan for PICA; and
- Investigate accusations of mismanagement and fraud by City agencies, employees and/or contractors.