One Way To Help Business . . .

With an eye on the growing number of vacant storefronts and an ear for the wails of neighborhood retailers, most of the City Council is on board with a plan to provide tax relief to smaller businesses. The only real barrier is Mayor de Blasio, who apparently can’t see beyond ideology.

The 3.9 percent tax on commercial rents of $250,000 a year only applies to businesses in Manhattan south of 96th Street.

Since the tax hits far more businesses than when it was enacted back in 1963, Councilman Dan Garodnick started pushing to reduce the burden back in April. At the time, Nicole Gelinas noted in The Post that the total hit to business had jumped from less than $500 million (in today’s dollars) in 2000 to $816 million in 2016.

Garodnick’s bill would raise the floor at which the tax kicks in from $250,000 to $500,000. He says that will only cost city government $55 million, which can be made up through agency savings.

Soaring commercial rents make it hard enough for small shops to stay open. Having to pay a tax on top of that is killing bodegas and other stores, especially ones that compete with online retailers and big chains.

The whole thing is insane: It’s not a tax on profits, but on a basic expense. At least the council is looking to reduce the lunacy.

Indeed, in an event almost as rare as a total solar eclipse, Garodnick has a veto-proof majority — 41 of the council’s 51 members — lined up as sponsors. All he needs is for Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito to let it come to a vote.

And the speaker (for all our other differences with her) actually has a fair record of supporting small business. Her only apparent reason to block this bill is the mayor’s opposition.

Does he really hate businesspeople that much?