Amy v. Shelby County Taxing District

Syllabus

<p>When a person owing taxes to a municipal, corporation becomes the owner of obligations of the municipality which .are by.law receivable in payment of its taxes, the extinguishment of the tax and the debt is clearly within the 'doctrine of set-off of .mutual obligations.</p> <p>A State law authorizing a debtor of a municipality to procure the obligations of the municipality and usé them as a set-off for his own debt, is not liable to constitutional objection, as divesting creditors of the municipality of vested; rights, or as impairing the obligation of contracts.</p> <p>The act of the Legislature of Tennessee of March 23, 1883, authorizing municipal corporations and taxing districts to compromise their debts by the issue St now bonds at the rate of fifty-percent, of the principal and past due interest, and providing that the acceptance of the compromise shall work a transfer of the creditor’s debt with a right to the municipality or district to .-enforce it: and the act of the same date providing that such new bonds and their matured coupons shall be received in payment of back taxes at the same rate as the bonds known as the Flippin bonds, did not divest the holders of unpreferred debts of the city óf Memphis of any rights conferred upon them by the previous legislation set forth or referred to in Meriwether v. Gar'rett, 102 U. S. 472 ; and violated no provision of the Constitution of the United States in those respects</p>