![\"Maria](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Maria-Rodriguez.jpg\")
Maria Rodriguez READING EAGLE<\/p>\nReading\u2019s general fund shows a deficit for the first time in six years, the city\u2019s external audit revealed.<\/p>\n
City Council heard an update on the 2024 external audit Monday at its committee of the whole meeting.<\/p>\n
City Auditor Maria Rodriguez reported that preliminary figures from the independent audit by Herbein + Company indicate a $1.94 million deficit in the general fund for 2024, leaving a total fund balance of $51.99 million.<\/p>\n
The city had last recorded a general fund deficit in 2018, when it was about $2 million, she said.<\/p>\n
The city continues to meet its fund balance policy, which requires maintaining reserves equal to at least 20% of the annual general fund budget, or a minimum of $22 million, to cover operating costs and pension contributions, she noted.<\/p>\n
Rodriguez said the auditors were pleased with the city\u2019s financial management and cooperation throughout the audit.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe audit process went well,\u201d she said, noting the independent auditors commended the city comptroller, accounting department and her office for their cooperation and accuracy.<\/p>\n
The draft audit report is expected to be presented publicly at City Council\u2019s next regular meeting, she noted.<\/p>\n
Maria Rodriguez READING EAGLE<\/p>\n
In addition to the external audit, Rodriguez presented the internal audit of the city\u2019s credit card use for the second quarter of 2025.<\/p>\n
The review covered 26 active cards and 605 transactions totaling $170,509, about $26,000 more than in the first quarter.<\/p>\n
Rodriguez said her office found that 96 transactions exceeded the $500 single-purchase limit, many related to travel and training expenses.<\/p>\n
She recommended the city implement a formal expenditure authorization form for purchases over that threshold and update its purchasing card policy, which has not been revised since 2013.<\/p>\n
Her report also found continued issues with missing receipts and sales tax payments.<\/p>\n
Eight employees exceeded federal per-diem limits on travel expenses, and 83 transactions included sales tax charges totaling $1,130, despite the city\u2019s tax-exempt status.<\/p>\n
Rodriguez recommended stronger oversight, additional training and clearer policies to ensure compliance.<\/p>\n
City Managing Director Jack Gombach said the administration is already addressing several of those concerns through an update of the city\u2019s employee handbook, which will include new financial control measures.<\/p>\n
The project has been underway for several months with a goal of completion before the holidays, he noted.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a particular focus on financial controls,\u201d Gombach said, adding that the updates incorporate the auditor\u2019s recommendations and other items identified throughout the year.<\/p>\n
Gombach said internal training sessions are planned to improve compliance and accountability across departments.<\/p>\n
Rodriguez commended the accounting staff for being responsive during the internal audit and noted that recurring findings make policy revisions increasingly important.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can see that the same findings continue from one quarter to another,\u201d she said. \u201cI believe the policy should be revised and updated.\u201d<\/p>\n
Council members thanked Rodriguez for her report, saying they look forward to reviewing the completed external audit later this month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reading\u2019s general fund shows a deficit for the first time in six years, the city\u2019s external audit revealed.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1767,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[349,857,182,139,28,736,128,130,129,706],"class_list":{"0":"post-2482","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-reading","8":"tag-berks-county","9":"tag-essential-reading","10":"tag-local-news","11":"tag-news","12":"tag-pennsylvania","13":"tag-reading","14":"tag-reading-city","15":"tag-reading-city-headlines","16":"tag-reading-city-news","17":"tag-top-stories-reg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2482","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2482"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2482\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2482"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2482"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2482"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}