October 29, 2014      8:44 PM
Hegar and Collier both show great poise in substantive comptroller debate
The most daylight between the two is on property taxes and experience needed for the office
In what may well have been
the most substantive debate of the general election, the candidates for Texas
Comptroller clashed on a variety of issues Wednesday night, including
property taxes and how to best reform the office they seek. The fast and
furious half-hour exchange between Republican Sen. Glenn Hegar and Democratic nominee and businessman
Mike Collier was hosted by our news
partners at Time Warner Cable News in Austin.
One of the questions posed
to the two was from Quorum Report contributor Stuart
Greenfield, a veteran of the comptroller’s office, who asked how each would
plan to improve revenue estimates. In asking his question via Twitter,
Greenfield noted that total tax collections for fiscal year 2014 exceed the
2015 estimate by $1 billion.
Hegar said forecast models are extremely important, but so
is talking with political leaders and business leaders in all 254 counties. That will help the comptroller understand “the
economic vibe out in Texas.” Hegar said truly having
an “ear to the ground” requires talking with business owners throughout the
state who lead the way in economic trends.
Collier agreed with that
last portion of Hegar’s comments but added that the
simplest and best way to reform the state’s accounting is to do a revenue estimate
on a quarterly basis instead of once just prior to the legislative session. The
Comptroller’s Office would not need any new legislation to start doing a
revenue estimate each quarter, Collier said. He said Texans are “skeptical” that politics play a role in those estimates as they are now performed.
Noting the very
wrong revenue estimates offered up by Comptroller Susan Combs in the past – which many have argued contributed to unnecessary
cuts to public education in 2011 – Collier said "let's take politics out of it and
put competence into" the revenue estimates.
By Scott Braddock
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