People ex rel. Davis v. City of Chicago

Citations

• 124 Ill. 636
• 17 N.E. 56
• 1888 Ill. LEXIS 1010

Syllabus

<p>1. Taxation—exemption—strict construction. All property, oí every description, in the State, except such as has been specifically exempted, is required to bear its just proportion oí the burden of taxation. All laws claimed as exempting property from taxation will be subject to a strict construction by the courts, and nothing will be held to come within the exemption which does not clearly appear to be so.</p> <p>2. Same—lands belonging to a city—whether subject to taxation. Lands owned by an incorporated city, not applicable to use for municipal purposes, although taken in part payment of corporate funds which an officer of the city had embezzled or appropriated to his own use, and which funds had been raised by taxation, are subject to taxation, the same as lands of private persons.</p> <p>3. The fact that the funds of the city which had been embezzled, and which are represented by the lands, are not taxable, can make no difference, as those funds were to be used in defraying the expenses of the city, and were not intended to be held for a number of years and placed at interest. Had the funds been so intended to be held and used, no reason is perceived why they would not themselves have been subject to taxation.</p>