City of Memphis v. W. M. S. Co.

City of Memphis appeals from a judgment of the Chancery Court of Shelby County awarding the complainant, W. M. S. Company, d/b/a Bluff City Cab Company, a judgment in the amount of $6,380.25 representing the recovery of so-called “street taxes” paid during the years 1953, 1954 and 1955.

By Ordinance No. 388, City Code 714-717, the City of Memphis purported to tax the operation of each taxicab over its streets the sum of $60' per year “for the use of the streets.” In January, 1956, a number of cab companies brought suit in the Chancery Court of Shelby County, Tennessee, alleging that said city…