Public purpose doctrine and municipal indemnity

Cities are granted the right to impose taxes to raise public funds in Article II , § 29 of the Tennessee Constitution, which states: “ The General Assembly shall have power to authorize the several counties and incorporated towns in this State, to impose taxes for County and Corporation purposes, respectively....” From this language has grown the public purpose doctrine, which dictates that public funds can be used only for public purposes. The courts have applied this doctrine to claims for indemnity by public officials and employees, and the reasoning in these cases apply to indemnity clauses in contracts and other situations in which municipalities attempt to indemnify other parties.