City controller candidate Ronald C. Green, whom Texas Watchdog reported on Thursday has outstanding federal tax liens for more than $120,000, failed to file a franchise tax report with the state earlier this decade, causing his firm to lose its charter, public records show.

Green's law firm, at the time called Ronald C. Green PC, failed to file a business tax return that would allow the state to assess how much franchise taxes the firm owed. Records show the firm's charter was revoked Feb. 11, 2000.

In a letter from the Texas comptroller’s office in 2003, Green appears to have met his franchise tax requirements, and the firm's charter became eligible for reinstatement.

Then in 2005, the Secretary of State's office forced the firm to forfeit its charter under Texas Tax Code Section 171.309.

Green said the records stem from his changing the name of his law firm, and said he doesn't owe any penalties or fees on the old filings.

"It was an old corporation that I don't use," Green told Texas Watchdog. "I just got off the phone with the comptroller's office and was told there are no fees. It's a closed corporation as far as the state is concerned."

The campaign of Green's fellow Councilmember Pam Holm, shown by a recent poll to be running second to Green in the controller's race, posed a question: "If he can't take care of his own business when he makes a living, how can he take care of taxpayers' business?", asked Bethel Nathan, Holm's campaign manager.

Today, Green's law firm is The Green Firm LLP.

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