Contact: Colleen Roche (212) 788-2958 or Deirdra Picou (212) 788-2971
Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani announced today that the Manhattan Resident Parking Tax Exemption program is being expanded to cover leased cars beginning December 1, 1996. Standing in front of an Upper East Side parking garage the Mayor was joined by members of Manhattan's City Council delegation, local residents, representatives of the Automobile Club of New York, State Assembly Member John A. Ravitz and City Finance Commissioner Fred Cerullo.
Mayor Giuliani personally issued parking tax exemption certificates to local residents, urging all Manhattan residents who garage their cars on a monthly basis or longer to apply for the exemption from paying the City's eight percent tax surcharge on parking services rendered in Manhattan. Over 30,000 Manhattan residents already qualify for the tax exemption, which is administered by the New York City Department of Finance.
"I am very pleased to join State Senator Roy Goodman and State Assembly Member John Ravitz, along with members of Manhattan's City Council delegation and the parking garage industry, to announce that the City will expand the benefits of this program to cover leased cars starting December 1st," said Mayor Giuliani. "And under the direction of the New York City Department of Finance, borough residents will have an unprecedented number of ways to easily obtain parking tax exemption applications forms at more than 700 conveniently located sites throughout the borough of Manhattan."
State Assembly Member John A. Ravitz said, "This is a win-win situation for people who lease cars in Manhattan and the garage managers. This once again shows that the Giuliani Administration is committed to continuing to increase economic growth for all New Yorkers."
Council Member Stanley Michels said, "We definitely brought equality to those Manhattan residents who choose to lease and those who own cars. This tax relief is long overdue and will end an unfair penalty imposed on many Manhattanites. We did the right thing in 1985 when we created an exemption from the 8% surcharge for Manhattan residents, and now we are improving it to take into account the increasing number of our constituents who opt to lease cars."
Council Member Andrew Eristoff said, "Very few people leased their cars back when the State Legislature created the exemption. Purchasing habits have changed over the last decade, and now nationwide nearly a quarter of all cars that come out of the dealer showrooms are leased. There is no way that we can continue to justify giving an exemption to a car owner who parks in a city garage when that person's neighbor who has an identical car in an adjacent spot in the same garage is subject to the tax simply because he or she leases the car."
Metropolitan Parking Association Executive Director Joel Stahl said, "The extension of the Manhattan Residential Parking Program to include leased vehicles is a progressive step which recognizes that, in today's economy, leasing a vehicle is very often a personal financial decision. This new law insures that all Manhattan residents can now avail themselves of safe and secure parking regardless of the method of obtaining their vehicle and without the hidden penalty of the parking tax surcharge."
In 1985, New York City imposed an additional eight percent tax surcharge to its standard 10.25% parking sales tax for all parking services rendered in the borough of Manhattan. State and local legislation authorizing this tax surcharge also exempted Manhattan residents who have their primary residence in the borough, who own cars and register them at their primary residences, and who garage their cars on a monthly basis or longer, to apply for an annual exemption from the surcharge. When the exemption provision of the law was constructed, legislators failed to anticipate the dramatic growth in the multi-billion personal and family car leasing industry and the benefit was only extended to Manhattan residents who owned their cars.
Following complaints from Manhattan residents who garage their leased cars on a long- term basis of discriminatory treatment under the law, Senator Roy Goodman proposed a bill and the State Legislature enacted a measure authorizing the City to expand the eligibility requirements of the parking tax exemption. In August, Mayor Giuliani signed legislation (Local Law 74 of 1996) sponsored by Manhattan Councilmembers Stanley Michels, Andrew S. Eristoff, and Gifford Miller into law extending benefits to residents who garage their leased cars starting December 1st.
Mayor Giuliani announced that Manhattan residents could obtain parking tax exemption certificates at hundreds of neighborhood-based Manhattan parking lots and garages and at the following locations:
| Councilmember Kathryn E. Freed 51 Chambers Street, Room 429 | Councilmember Ronnie M. Eldridge 10 Columbus Circle, Room 1490 |
| Councilmember Antonio Pagan 237 First Avenue, Room 405 | Councilmember Stanley E. Michels 4250 Broadway/425 W 144th Street |
| Councilmember Thomas K. Duane 275 Seventh Avenue, 12th Floor | Councilmember Adam Clayton Powell IV 159 E 116th St/971 Columbus Ave |
| Councilmember Andrew S. Eristoff 409 E 1 4th Street, Suite B | Councilmember C. Virginia Fields 163 W 125th Street, Suite 729 |
| Councilmember Gifford Miller 336 E 73rd Street, Suite C | Councilmember Guillermo Linares 260 Audubon Avenue |
These Manhattan offices of the NYS Department of Motor Vehicles:
Lower Manhattan DMV Center
141 Worth Street
Harlem DMV Center
2110 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Boulevard
Midtown DMV Express Center
300 West 34th Street
Applications can also be obtained by fax from the New York City Department of Finance's free Tax Fax service by calling (718) 935-6114 from telephone connected to a fax machine or modem.