And so, gentle reader, we come once again to that point in the legislative session where lawmakers scrounging for money go to the comptroller, who controls the numbers, seeking favor.But the tradition of sweet-talking comptrollers for more smack stopped pretty soon after Carole Keeton Strayhorn became comptroller; instead of flowers and chocolates, lawmakers came steaming in with proposed legislation to take the tax courts away from the tax collector. "We had the feeling we were getting slow-played... so we moved the hearings over to SOAH," said Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa. "As soon as she woke up over there, she started sending these little missles over here... saying she'd lower her estimate [of state revenue] if hearings were pulled out." In a meeting attended by at least 10 people from the House and the comptroller's office, the House contingent -- led by Reps. Chisum, Jim Keffer of Eastland, and Brian McCall of Plano -- said they had hoped to raise another $1 billion from their tax bill than the comptroller says it would raise. At this point, accounts vary (excuse the double meaning, but it works for us). The comptroller said taking away the tax courts -- an administrative law system that sometimes ends in settlements and sometimes at the regular courthouse -- would force her to lower her overall revenue estimate, whether or not the tax bill passes. The comptroller's number-crunchers said the House folks would have to make a few changes that have already proven unpopular, bringing more businesses into the franchise tax than they proposed and charging a rate higher than they proposed. Change those things, they were told, and they'd get another billion out of the tax bill, and consequently, greater cuts in local school property taxes. The Housies said they would leave hearings in the agency if she would raise her estimate of the revenue produced by the tax bill. "We'd rather have our money," Chisum says. "We'd sell out for the money." Chisum says Strayhorn's staff gave a bigger number to Sen. Kim Brimer, R-Fort Worth, last year, but that she now says the proposals were different. The comptroller's office is putting together a side-by-side comparing the old Brimer proposal to the current House proposal so they can see whether and where they've got a hole in their pocket. Chisum asked Strayhorn to get that done by Tuesday afternoon, since the clock is winding down on the session. If you're following that on your home calculator, they left the meeting at least $1 billion apart, and potentially more. This is strikingly similar to the battle during the last regular session and the special session last spring, when spats over state finances led the comptroller to temporarily threaten not to certify that the state budget was balanced. In the special session a year ago, the Legislature responded to that (and other battles) by stripping Strayhorn's office of school and state agency performance reviews. The comptroller's estimates of what the tax bill would raise would leave the House with enough money, we're told, to lower local property taxes to $1.35 from $1.50 in the first year, and to $1.10 in the second year. The House wants to cut the local property tax by 50 cents; the Senate by 40 cents. Chisum says that Strayhorn's estimate would put the cut in the 25- to 30-cent range. Even if they get numbers they like from Strayhorn, the tax bill has trouble of its own -- the House and Senate haven't yet signed off on it, and its fate is linked to the public school finance and education bill, which is also on hold in a House-Senate conference committee. The people watching the session clock say lawmakers need a deal within about 72 hours to make it work. In truth, if they get a deal before the session ends, they'll figure out a way to make the rules work.