Kayla Carr, CPA serves as the Director of State Government Finance for the Tennessee Comptroller of the Treasury. In this role, she is responsible for the issuance and management of the State’s general obligation debt, as well as the debt of the Tennessee State School Bond Authority and the Tennessee Local Development Authority.

Kayla serves as assistant secretary to the State Funding Board, the Tennessee State School Bond Authority, and the Tennessee Local Development Authority. She also serves as assistant secretary to the Bond Finance Committee of the Tennessee Housing Development Agency to assist and provide support in the issuance of its debt to finance affordable single-family housing. Kayla and her team are also responsible for the administration of the loans for certain loan programs of the state including State Revolving Loan Funds, the Energy Efficient Schools Initiative, and the State Infrastructure Fund.

Kayla began her public service career in 2006 working first for the Comptroller’s Office and then for the Tennessee Department of Finance and Administration, where she served as a Department Controller for the Department of Children’s Services. She returned to the Comptroller’s Office as Assistant Director of State Government Finance and was named director of the division in 2025.

Kayla is a Certified Public Accountant and earned both her Bachelor of Arts in Business and Master of Professional Accountancy degrees from Murray State University. She is a also a member of the 2013 class of the Tennessee Government Executive Institute.

Kayla and her husband, John, have one daughter. In her spare time she enjoys volunteering at her church, baking, and trying her hand at various craft projects.