Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! {{Short description|Financial officer of the executive branch of the U.S. state of Texas}} {{Infobox Political post |post = Comptroller of Public Accounts |insignia = |insigniasize = 120px |body = [[Texas]] |image = Hegar, Glenn - 09 5x7 (cropped).jpg| |imagesize = |incumbent = [[Glenn Hegar]] |incumbentsince = January 2, 2015 |style = The Honorable |termlength = Four years, no term limits |formation = [[Texas Constitution]] |inaugural = James B. Shaw <br/>1846 | salary = $153,750 (2019) |website = [http://www.window.state.tx.us/ Texas Comptroller's website] }} The '''Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts''' is an executive branch position created by the [[Texas Constitution]]. The comptroller is popularly elected every four years, and is primarily tasked with collecting all state tax revenue and estimating the amount of revenue that the [[Texas Legislature]] can spend each biennium. The current comptroller is [[Glenn Hegar]], who took office on January 2, 2015. ==History== The predecessor to the current comptroller's office started in 1846. The longest-serving Comptrollers in Texas history were [[Robert S. Calvert]], who held the post for 26 consecutive years for an unprecedented twelve terms; [[George H. Sheppard]], who served for 18 years over nine two-year terms; and [[Bob Bullock]], who served for 16 years for four four-year terms and later was notable as one of the most powerful Lieutenant Governors in Texas history (and the namesake for the state's official history museum). Duties currently performed by the comptroller's office were previously divided between it and the office of [[Texas State Treasurer]]; however, over time the [[Texas Legislature]] transferred most of the Treasurer's functions to the comptroller's office. The last State Treasurer, [[Martha Whitehead]], successfully campaigned for office in 1994 on the premise of abolishing the position and transferring its few remaining duties to the comptroller's office; upon winning she successfully campaigned the legislature for a [[Texas Constitution|Constitution]]al amendment in 1995 to formally abolish the Treasurer's office which was approved by voters in November of that year. By 1996, the comptroller had taken over the Treasurer's few remaining duties. ==Duties== The primary duties of the comptroller's office are to collect substantially all tax revenue owed to the State of Texas (this involves more than 60 different types of taxes from the [[sales tax]] -- the largest source of the state's tax revenue, since Texas does not have a personal [[income tax]] -- to minor items such as the "battery sales fee" -- a $2β$3 fee on sales of lead-acid batteries) and to maintain the official financial records for the state. As Texas uses a unified collection system for sales taxes assessed by both state and local governments, the comptroller's office is responsible for collecting and remitting the local portion of this tax revenue to the various cities, counties, and special districts throughout the state.<ref>[http://www.window.state.tx.us/taxes "Overview of Texas Taxes", comptroller's office]</ref> The comptroller's office also operates the various prepaid college tuition funds operated by the state through its Prepaid Higher Education Tuition Board, provides reports on fiscal management and economic forecasts, and manages the [[unclaimed property]] fund.<ref>[http://www.window.state.tx.us/finances "Texas Finances and Economic Reporting", Comptroller's office]</ref> As part of its fiscal management responsibilities, [https://web.archive.org/web/20090107002859/http://tlo2.tlc.state.tx.us/txconst/sections/cn000300-0049a0.html Article III, Section 49a] of the Texas Constitution requires the comptroller to certify to the [[Texas Legislature]] the amount of available cash on hand and anticipated revenues for the next biennium (the two-year period beginning on September 1 of odd-numbered years). The Legislature is not permitted to appropriate any funds in excess of the comptroller's certified amounts (except in cases of emergency and then only with a four-fifths vote of both chambers), and absent the latter the comptroller is required to reject and return to the legislature any appropriation in violation of this requirement. ==List of Texas comptrollers== *James B. Shaw (D): 1846β1857 *Clement R. Johns (D): 1859β1864 *Willis L. Robards (D): 1865 *Albert H. Latimer (R): 1866 *Morgan Hamilton (R): 1867β1869 *Albert A. Bledsoe (R): 1870β1873 *[[Stephen Heard Darden]] (D): 1874β1879 *William M. Brown (D): 1880β1882 *William Jesse Swain (D): 1883β1886 *John D. McCall (D): 1887β1894 *Richard W. Finley (D): 1895β1900 *Robert M. Love (D): 1901β1903 *J. W. Stephen (D): 1903β1910 *W. P. Lane (D): 1911β1914 *Henry B. Terrell (D): 1915β1919 *M. L. Wiginton (D): 1920 *Lon A. Smith (D): 1921β1924 *[[Sam Houston Terrell]] (D): 1925β1930 *[[George H. Sheppard]] (D): 1930β1949 *[[Robert S. Calvert]] (D): 1949β1975 *[[Bob Bullock]] (D): 1975β1991 *[[John Sharp (Texas politician)|John Sharp]] (D): 1991β1999 *[[Carole Keeton Strayhorn]] (R): 1999β2007 *[[Susan Combs]] (R): 2007β2015 *[[Glenn Hegar]] (R): 2015βpresent ==References== {{reflist}} ==External links== *[http://www.window.state.tx.us/ Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts] {{Portal|Texas}} {{Texas}} {{State agencies of Texas}} {{U.S. State Treasurers}} {{Current Texas statewide political officials}} [[Category:Government of Texas]] [[Category:State treasurers of the United States]] [[Category:Comptrollers of Texas| ]] [[Category:State auditors and comptrollers of the United States|Texas]] Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. 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