Texas Comptroller's Office:

An Inventory of Comptroller's Office Organization Charts at the Texas State Archives, 1978-2005

Agency History

The Texas State Comptroller's Office was created in 1835 by Texas' provisional government and renewed by each constitution. The present office of the Comptroller was created by the Texas Constitution of 1876 (Article IV, Sections 1 and 23) and is responsible for collecting state revenue, tracking state expenditures, and monitoring the financial condition of the state. The Comptroller was popularly elected for a two-year term until a constitutional amendment in 1974 lengthened the term to four years. The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts is the state's chief fiscal officer, bookkeeper and economic forecaster. The agency issues approximately 8 million checks a year to meet state agency payrolls and to pay the state's bills. The primary duty of the Comptroller's Office is to collect 26 state taxes, including sales, corporate franchise, motor fuels, motor vehicle sales, oil and natural gas production and inheritance taxes. The Office has field offices in 25 cities equipped to take applications for tax permits and licenses and to make sure delinquent taxpayers bring their accounts up to date. Comptroller auditors regularly check taxpayers' books to ensure compliance with the laws, visiting businesses ranging from small Texas grocers to Fortune 500 corporations in Texas and other states.

The Comptroller is required by law to provide the Legislature with a sworn statement showing the financial condition of the state at the end of each fiscal year and an estimate of probable revenue for the coming fiscal year. The Texas Constitution limits the amount that the Legislature may spend to the amount of revenue the Comptroller certifies as available for each biennium. The agency also evaluates spending bills in the Legislature to determine if enough money will be available to meet the budget. In addition, the Comptroller's Office ensures that state agencies stay within their budgets, and is developing uniform state accounting and payroll systems to improve the efficiency of all state financial operations. Among its divisions, the Local Government Division helps Texas cities and counties in handling state funds and in budgeting, bookkeeping, cash management and purchasing procedures, while the Economic Development Division provides information about federal and state grant opportunities, distributes data about local economies and helps businesses find purchasing and training opportunities. The Research Division studies and reports on all sectors and geographic regions of the Texas economy. Finally, the Comptroller's Office helps taxpayers comply with state tax laws and stay abreast of changes in the law.

On September 1, 1996 the Office of the Comptroller assumed the function of the abolished State Treasury Department and the Treasury Department's Unclaimed Property Program, thus making the Comptroller responsible for depositing and investing state funds, paying state warrants, administering and enforcing the state's cigarette and tobacco tax laws, and attempting to return abandoned property to its owners.

Bob Bullock was Comptroller from 1975 through 1990, John Sharp served from 1991 through 1998, and Carole Keeton Rylander has served as Comptroller since 1999. By 1999, the Comptroller's Office had a full-time staff of over 2,800 individuals and an annual budget in excess of $170 million dollars.

Scope and Contents of the Records

The Texas State Comptroller's Office is responsible for collecting state revenue, tracking state expenditures, and monitoring the financial condition of the state. These records document the organizational structure of this office in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Records comprise organization charts of the Texas Comptroller's Office from 1978 to 2005. These charts graphically illustrate the administrative structure of the different functional units within the Comptroller's Office under Bob Bullock, John Sharp and Carole Keeton Rylander. The charts were maintained in the Office's Human Resources Department and as changes in organization or personnel were made in particular sections of the Comptroller's Office the relevant charts were updated and added to the files on a monthly basis. Considerable duplication of charts may exist.

To prepare this inventory, the described materials were cursorily reviewed to delineate series, to confirm the accuracy of contents lists, to provide an estimate of dates covered, and to determine record types.

Restrictions

Restrictions on Access

None.

Restrictions on Use

Most records created by Texas state agencies are not copyrighted and may be freely used in any way. State records also include materials received by, not created by, state agencies. Copyright remains with the creator. The researcher is responsible for complying with U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17 U.S.C.).

Technical Requirements

None.

Related Material

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

(Identify the item), Texas Comptroller's Office organization charts. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.

Accession Information

Accession numbers: 2001/058, 2003/125, 2006/207

These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Texas Comptroller's Office on November 8, 2000; March 4, 2002; and February 8, 2006.

Processing Information

Nancy Enneking, November 2000, March 2003

Tony Black, February 2006

Accruals

Organization charts are transfered to the archives on a regular basis.

Other Formats for the Records

Overall Comptroller's Office organization charts, to the most basic office level, are found in the Comptroller of Public Accounts Agency Strategic Plan, the most current one of which is online, in PDF format, at http://www.window.state.tx.us/taxbud/strategic/.

Detailed Description of the Records