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 Strayhorn 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.
(Sources include the
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 those duties, representing activities of the various division directors, the deputy comptrollers, and comptrollers Bob Bullock and John Sharp. These records consist of correspondence, memoranda, reports, speeches, clippings, invitations, thank-you notes, computer printouts, press releases, and other administrative documents, dating 1973-1988, 1991-2002, as maintained by the Executive Administration Division of the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.
Many of the records were generated and collected by the Executive
Administration Division of the Comptroller's Office under the leadership of
Comptroller Bob Bullock. Some materials consist of administrative files
concerning each of thirteen divisions of the Comptroller's office. Central
correspondence files include correspondence from members of the general public,
organizations, elected and appointed public officials, and staff (especially
heads) of state agencies. Topics include interpretations of tax laws and
Comptroller's office policies, complaints against tax rules, requests for
changes in existing tax laws, attempted resolutions of tax problems,
suggestions for improving the state's fiscal situation, letters of
appreciation, and routine internal matters. Reports include materials on taxes,
tax rates, comparisons of Texas taxes with those of other states, comparisons
of Texas' statistics with other nations, creation of an internal
Also included is an active series of administrative correspondence (both incoming and especially outgoing letters and memoranda, plus attachments) of Comptrollers John Sharp and Carole Keeton Rylander, dating 1991-2002. Typically, correspondents are state legislators, state agency officials, the lieutenant governor, the governor, local officials (at the city, county, and school district level), federal officials, and corporate entities. Topics addressed in the correspondence include such things as projected or anticipated effects of proposed tax rates, methods of statistical adjustment for the federal census, issues involving the lottery, legislative intent, the tobacco litigation settlement, school audit performance reviews, the salaries of public officials, the Taxpayer Advisory Group, the property tax Technical Advisory Committee, etc.
To prepare this preliminary 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.
This finding aid describes the records of only one unit of the Texas
Comptroller's Office. If you are reading this electronically, click here for an
None.
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.).
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The records have been organized by State Archives staff into six series and three subseries:
(Identify the item and cite the series), Texas Comptroller's Office Executive Administration Division records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Tony Black, July 1991
Paul Beck, January 1994
Lisa M. Hendricks, January 1999
Nancy Enneking, April 1999, March 2003
Tony Black, April 2006
Accession numbers: 1991/058, 1994/059, 1999/096, 1999/126, 2001/075, 2003/125, 2003/167, 2004/093, 2005/184, 2006/343
These records were transferred to the Texas State Archives by the Executive Administration Division of the office of the Texas Comptroller's Office on January 4, 1991; January 11, 1994; January 22, 1999; March 18, 1999; December 15, 2000; March 4, 2003; June 9, 2003; February 18, 2004; August 29, 2005; and April 3, 2006.
The Texas Comptroller's Office periodically transfers
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 those duties. They consist of
administrative files maintained by the Executive Administration Division
concerning each of thirteen divisions of the Comptroller's office, dating
1974-1977, bulk 1975-1976. The files include correspondence (both received and
sent, to and from other government officials as well as members of the general
public), interoffice memoranda (mainly from division directors and other staff
to deputy comptrollers and to Comptroller Bob Bullock), reports (both narrative
and statistical), summaries, discussion and/or position papers, press releases,
etc. Many of the documents are originals. Some of the reports are duplicated in
the series,
Arrangement by the creator is alphabetical by division, then roughly in reverse chronological order within each file.
(Identify the item), Division files, Texas Comptroller's Office Executive Administration Division records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Accession number: 1991/058
These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Executive Administration Division of the office of the Texas Comptroller's Office on January 4, 1991.
Tony Black, July 1991
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 those duties, consisting of completed administrative files which had been prepared for microfilming by the Executive Administration Division of the Texas Comptroller's Office, 1974-1982.
These records have been organized by State Archives staff into three subseries:
(Identify the item and cite the subseries), Finished files, Texas Comptroller's Office Executive Administration Division records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Accession number: 1991/058
These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Executive Administration Division of the office of the Texas Comptroller's Office on January 4, 1991.
Tony Black, July 1991
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 those duties,
accomplished by the various divisions. These documents are labelled as bound
reports (now unbound), 1975-1977, covering the work of eight divisions of the
Texas Comptroller's Office as maintained by the Executive Administration
Division. Often lengthy, they include interoffice memoranda and correspondence,
progress reports, evaluation reports, published studies, booklets, tax guides,
tax rules and regulations, procedures, proposals, synopses, revenue estimates,
summaries of the financial report, work plans, monthly comparative statements,
tax certifications, lists of tax judgments, status reports on accounts, audit
and collection reports, seizure reports, transcripts of interviews, forms,
legislation, employment examinations, notes, federal government publications,
out-of-state tax publications (California, Ohio, and New York), etc. Some of
the reports are duplicated in the series
Arrangement by the creator is alphabetical by division.
(Identify the item), Reports, Finished files, Texas Comptroller's Office Executive Administration Division records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
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 those duties, covering
five specific topics of the Executive Administration Division of the Texas
Comptroller's Office, dating 1974-1982, bulk 1977-1979. Documents include
correspondence to and from Comptroller Bob Bullock, interoffice memoranda,
copies of newspaper and magazine clippings, newsletters, agenda, position
statements, copies of federal publications, a copy of
Records are arranged by the creator and are maintained in the order in which they arrived.
(Identify the item), Special subject files, Finished files, Texas Comptroller's Office Executive Administration Division records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
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 those duties,
consisting of a small amount of Comptroller Bob Bullock's correspondence from
the years 1977, 1979-1980, drafted by Special Assistant Glen Castlebury and
therefore labelled
Arrangement by the creator is alphabetical by either the last name of the correspondent, or by the category of correspondent (e.g., Auto Wholesalers).
(Identify the item), Castlebury correspondence, Finished files, Texas Comptroller's Office Executive Administration Division records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
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 those duties, consisting of Comptroller Bob Bullock's central correspondence files, January-March 1987 and June 1987-June 1988. They include the original incoming letters, along with photocopies of the outgoing responses, bearing Bullock's signature, plus enclosures and routing slips. Also occasionally included are hard copies of automated correspondence log entries, which contain a summary record of correspondence with that person, some back as far as 1983. Correspondents include members of the general public, organizations, elected and appointed public officials, and staff (especially heads) of state agencies. Topics include interpretations of tax laws and Comptroller's office policies, complaints against tax rules, requests for changes in existing tax laws, attempted resolutions of tax problems, suggestions as to how to improve the state's fiscal situation, letters of appreciation, routine internal matters, etc.
Arrangement by the creator is chronological by month, and then alphabetical by last name of correspondent within each month.
(Identify the item), Central files correspondence, Texas Comptroller's Office Executive Administration Division records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Accession number: 1991/058
These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Executive Administration Division of the office of the Texas Comptroller's Office on January 4, 1991.
Tony Black, July 1991
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 those duties, consisting of
reports, memoranda, correspondence, photocopied news clippings, computer
printouts, and a speech, ranging in date from 1978 to 1986, bulk 1982-1986. The
records were generated and collected by the Executive Administration Division
of the Comptroller's Office under the leadership of Comptroller Bob Bullock.
Subjects include taxes, tax rates, comparisons of Texas taxes with those of
other states, comparisons of Texas' statistics with other nations, creation of
an internal
Materials were arranged by the creator in two groups--external reports and internal reports--and then in alphabetical order within each group.
(Identify the item), Reports, Texas Comptroller's Office Executive Administration Division records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Accession number: 1999/126
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 March 18, 1999
Nancy Enneking, April 1999
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 are the speech and engagement files of Comptroller Bob Bullock. Types of records include speeches, correspondence, memos, invitations, and thank-you notes. Records date from 1973 to 1986. Subjects of Bullock's speeches include state and national politics, budget analyses, revenue estimates, and the state of the Texas economy. Included are some of Bullock's election campaign speeches for the office of Comptroller. Speeches were given to the state Democratic convention, trade and labor union organizations, the Texas legislature and legislative committees, business groups, church congregations, colleges and universities, and local civic groups.
Speeches are arranged by the creator alphabetically by the city in which they were given and are then in chronological order within each city. Only the first and last files in each box are listed and dated.
(Identify the item), Bob Bullock speeches, Texas Comptroller's Office Executive Administration Division records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Accession number: 1994/059
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 January 11, 1994.
Paul Beck, January 1994
The Texas State Comptroller's Office is responsible for collecting state revenue, tracking state expenditures, and monitoring the financial condition of the state. Documenting those duties, these records consist of administrative correspondence (both incoming and especially outgoing letters and memoranda, plus attachments) of Comptrollers John Sharp and Carole Keeton Rylander, dating 1991-2002. Typically, correspondents are state legislators, state agency officials, the lieutenant governor, the governor, local officials (at the city, county, and school district level), federal officials, and corporate entities. Topics addressed in the correspondence include such things as projected or anticipated effects of proposed tax rates, methods of statistical adjustment for the federal census, issues involving the lottery, legislative intent, the tobacco litigation settlement, school audit performance reviews, the salaries of public officials, the Taxpayer Advisory Group, the property tax Technical Advisory Committee, etc.
These records are arranged by the creator chronologically by year. Records remain in order as received.
(Identify the item), Administrative correspondence, Texas Comptroller's Office Executive Administration Division records. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Accession numbers: 1999/096, 2001/075, 2003/125, 2003/167, 2004/093, 2005/184, 2006/343
These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Office of the Comptroller of Public Accounts on January 22, 1999; December 15, 2000; March 4, 2003; June 9, 2003; February 18, 2004; August 29, 2005; and April 3, 2006.
Lisa M. Hendricks, January 1999
Nancy Enneking, March 2003
Tony Black, April 2006