328 THE FISCAL PROBLEM IN MISSOURI

In 1909 the Wisconsin legislature directed the tax commission
 to investigate municipal finances. The investigation
showed that accounts were kept in such a manner as to preclude
 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 municipal
 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) devise,
 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 individual
 field engagements, as follows: “103 audits, 129
closing inspections, 18 installations, 84 financial report inspections,
 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: villages,
 26; school districts, 5.2
The receipts of the Wisconsin Municipal Accounting Department
 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.