Benbow v. Iowa City

Citations

• 74 U.S. 313
• 19 L. Ed. 79
• 7 Wall. 313
• 1868 U.S. LEXIS 1004

Syllabus

<p>A return to a mandamus ordering a municipal corporation forthwith, to levy a specific tax upon the taxable property of a city for the year 1865, sufficient to pay a judgment specified, collect the tax and pay the same, or show cause to t'he contrary by the next term of the court, is not answered by a return that the defendants, “ in obedience to the order of the court, did proceed to levy a tax of one per cent, .upon the taxable property cf the said city, for the purpose of paying the judgment named in the information, and other claims, and that-the said tax is sufficient in amount to pay the said judgment and other claims for the payment of'which it’ was levied.” The return should have disclosed the whole act constituting the levy, so as to enable the court to determine whether it was sufficient to pay the judgment of the relator. It was also erroneous in returning that the tax was levied to pay this judgment ‘‘ and other claims.”</p>