Comptroller's report on customer service, fiscal year 2002.
Abstract
The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts is the state's chief fiscal officer,
tax collector, accountant, treasurer and revenue estimator. In these
roles, the agency tracks expenses, pays the state's bills, manages the
state's cash and securities, forecasts how much revenue the Legislature
can expect to receive during the biennium, and estimates the fiscal impact
of proposed legislation. Additionally, the Comptroller's office is charged
with managing a number of programs, including the Texas Tomorrow
Fund, the State Energy Conservation Office and the Texas Treasury
Safekeeping Trust Company.
The Comptroller's office best serves its customers by providing them with
the information they need to conduct their business with the agency as
quickly and as efficiently as possible. If the agency's customers are
informed of their rights and responsibilities, as well as the agency's statutory
duties, they will encounter fewer problems and are likely to have
fewer questions.
The agency's first and foremost responsibility as Texas' chief tax collector
is to improve voluntary compliance with the state's tax laws. To perform
this role, the agency conducts tax audits, administrative hearings
and taxpayer education seminars. The agency also responds to taxpayers'
requests for information and materials swiftly and accurately.
To obtain customer information on agency services for the vast array of
programs it administers, the Comptroller's office currently uses as many
as 20 different survey instruments. These program-specific surveys are
frequently modified to ensure each collects relevant data on seven customer
service quality elements: facilities, staff, communications, Internet
sites, complaint handling processes, service timeliness and printed information.
To comply with S.B. 1563, enacted by the 1999 Texas Legislature, and
report on customer service in each of the seven areas mentioned above,
the agency entered into an interagency contract with the University of
North Texas' Survey Research Center to conduct a third-party survey of
the agency's largest customer population, state sales taxpayers. Survey
results are provided later in this report.