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.