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