LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TAXATION 45 



8. Statement of Liabilities 



9. Schedule of Town Property 



10. Town Clerk's Report, including motor vehicle permits and 

 dog licenses 



11. Tax Collector's Report 



12. Treasurer's Report 



13. Summary of Receipts 



14. Summary of all Payments 



15. Detail Statement of Receipts 



16. Detail Statement of Payments, following order in which they 

 appear in summary 



17. Report of Highway Agents 



18. Report of Trustees of Trust Funds, same as report to Tax 

 Commission 



19. Report of Auditors 



20. Report of Library Trustees 



21. Report of Precinct 



22. Report of School Districts 



23. Vital Statistics 



Towns generally adhere to the uniform classification of receipts 

 and expenditures prescribed by the tax commission, but minor ex- 

 penses are not always allocated to the proper class, and the reports 

 of individual officers are frequently incomplete. Many accounts are 

 not carefully checked before printing; this results in numerous errors. 

 The fact that the fiscal year ends on January 31, and that reports must 

 be in the hands of the voters at or before the town meeting on. the 

 second Tuesday of March, means that too little attention is devoted 

 to checking the original reports of officers and to galley proof reading. 



x\t each annual town meeting one or more auditors are elected to 

 audit the accounts of persons handling public money. By statute 

 the accounts of the selectmen, town treasurer, town clerk, collector 

 of taxes, and any other agent handling the funds of a town are all 

 included in the audit. In a few instances rather large amounts of 

 town money have been misappropriated by dishonest public officials. 

 This has sometiines continued over a period of years without detection 

 by the local auditors. Auditors are elected at the annual town meet- 

 ing in March but do no auditing until the following February after 

 the end of the fiscal year, January 31. Thus, the town audit is a post- 

 audit. The auditors' report is a report to the town and appears in the 

 town report soon after the audit. 



The state legislature in 1939 passed an act which provided for 

 establishment of a municipal accounting division within the state 

 tax commission and under its general supervision. The mtmicipal 

 accountant, an appointee of the tax commission and director of the 

 division, cooperates with local governmental officials in establishing 

 uniform accounting in a prescribed manner and in the preparation of 

 uniform reports. Although the usual auditing of local accounts is a 

 local function, the commission is authorized to cause an audit by the 

 division whenever conditions appear to warrant it. The commission 

 is further authorized to approve the statements of appropriation, a 

 summary inventory of taxable property, taxes assessed, and the com- 

 puted tax rate before towns proceed to levy taxes. 



