328 THE FISCAL PROBLEM IN MISSOURI 
In 1909 the Wisconsin legislature directed the tax com- 
mission to investigate municipal finances. The investigation 
showed that accounts were kept in such a manner as to pre- 
clude the possibility of comparing results. As a consequence 
of the findings, a law was enacted that enumerated the duties 
of the tax commission in connection with the collection of 
statistics and the formulation of a uniform system of mu- 
nicipal accounts. The law provided that the tax commission 
shall (1) inquire into the system of accounting of public 
funds in use in towns, villages, cities, and counties, (2) de- 
vise, prescribe, and, at the request of any town, village, city, 
or county, install a system of accounts that shall be as nearly 
uniform as practicable, and (3) audit the books of the town, 
village, city, or county officers, on the request of the town or 
village board, city council, or county board, or on its own 
motion. 
A municipal accounting department was established by 
the tax commission, and effective results were obtained from 
the outset. It was discovered that in a number of cases there 
had been wilful misappropriation of funds, due in part to the 
laxity of governing bodies. Although the individual amounts 
were small in many instances, they would have reached a 
considerable total, if continued over a period of years. The 
municipal accounting department in Wisconsin has been 
continued up to the present time, and its work has been 
expanded. 
During 1927 and 1928 the work done included 392 indi- 
vidual field engagements, as follows: “103 audits, 129 
closing inspections, 18 installations, 84 financial report in- 
spections, 54 miscellaneous inspections, and 4 assignments 
upon which preliminary work for 1929 was done.” The 
distribution of the 392 engagements by class of municipality 
was as follows: cities, 112; counties, 136; towns. 113: vil- 
lages, 26; school districts, 5.2 
The receipts of the Wisconsin Municipal Accounting De- 
partment for the fiscal year ended in 1928 amounted to 
$55,920,and the expenditures, to $53,721. An advantage to 
the municipalities is that the work is done at actual cost. 
! Report of the Wisconsin Tax Commission, 1928, p. 68. 
2 Idem. 
*Ibid., p. 267.