Small Businesses across New York City could see a reprieve from burdensome fines with upcoming legislation designed to enhance the transparency and fairness for enforcing city regulations.
Council Member Oswald Feliz, who represents the 15th district in the Bronx, said he plans to introduce a bill requiring the city to track and map fines frequently issued to small businesses and create support systems for small business owners who want to improve their compliance with city codes.
“Our small business owners work really hard to create local jobs and keep communities vibrant,” Feliz said. “We need to help them in every way possible and we shouldn’t be overwhelming them with fines when local issues arise.”
The legislation, which is still being finalized, would require the Department of Small Business Services (SBS) to compile data on the types of fines frequently being issued to businesses with fewer than 100 employees. Then, this information would be geotagged and analyzed to identify trends in different neighborhoods or different industries.
The SBS would then be required to produce an annual report that could be used to influence policy decisions, like creating educational or supportive programs for business owners to help them comply with local regulations and prevent expensive fines for repeat violations. Feliz said that sometimes small business owners need some grace while they get up to speed with city codes.
“There’s a lot of small business owners, especially those first-time business owners, who are doing everything they can to comply with the different rules that apply,” Feliz said. “But we live in a state with thousands of rules – rules that are changing very quickly. If we could just help a small business resolve issues by educating about the rules, that should be the approach that we take, rather than just teaching them about a new rule through a $1,000 fine.”
The proposed bill would come at a time when many small businesses are struggling. The Federal Reserve’s finding from the 2023 Small Business Credit Survey found that 60% of small businesses in New York City and the surrounding areas were struggling to afford their operating costs, up from the national average of 52%.
Lisa Sorin, President of the Bronx Chamber of Commerce and member of the Five Borough Jobs Campaign, said that she has heard first-hand from small businesses in the Bronx about the financial burden of city fines. Compiling the data geographically, she noted, could expose potential inequities in city code enforcement along income or racial lines. So far, without data tracking specific fines in neighborhoods and industries, any perceived inequities are anecdotal.
“Some businesses feel like they’re targeted more than others,” Sorin said. “Do we really know if that’s a fact? Not really, if we have nothing to show for it. It’s a conversation and we’re finally being listened to. I think this fine transparency bill will sort of level the playing field.”
Legislation requiring the tracking and mapping of fines issued to small businesses could have a big impact, Sorin said, especially in places like the Bronx which after decades of divestment is seeing an economic boom. From 2019 to 2021 the Bronx saw a 66% increase in new business formations, according to the Bronx Economic Development Corporation.
“We don’t want, respectfully, regional businesses to come in and occupy spaces that our small business mom and pops and our micro businesses can occupy and enjoy the fruits of the labor that the Bronx is going through,” Sorin said. “And that’s our mission, right? To help support these small businesses.”
