Legislation will be introduced in the City Council Tuesday to create a government office to field complaints from the city's thousands of small-business owners, as well as to advocate on their behalf.

It would essentially be an ombudsman for small businesses. The bill's sponsor, Margaret Chin, is pitching it as akin to the city's public advocate.

The new "small-business advocate" would be located within the city's Department of Small Business Services, although the size of its budget and staff have yet to be worked out. In addition to acting as a conduit for complaints and comments about city services from small businesses, the office would make recommendations to the mayor on policies and programs to better support small businesses, and would issue an annual report to the City Council in that same vein.

"Small businesses are a foundation of New York City's vibrancy and diversity, and this legislation will allow us to take powerful strides forward in protecting and supporting those businesses for generations to come," said Ms. Chin, D-Manhattan. "By moving to create a new office that will advocate for strong and sensible policies, along with requiring an annual report, we're laying the groundwork for historic advances to help make sure small businesses can survive and thrive amid a constantly changing business environment."

Councilman Robert Cornegy, D-Brooklyn, the chairman of the small-business committee, is a co-sponsor. Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito is strongly in favor of moving the legislation.

"This legislation will allow the city to foster a regulatory climate where small businesses may grow and thrive," Ms. Mark-Viverito said in a statement. "As one of the largest providers of strong, well-paying jobs, it is vital that small businesses have the tools, resources and policies they need to continue to anchor New York’s local economies and working families."

The bill is the latest salvo by the City Council to add governmental offices to make things easier for business owners, who have long complained of bureaucratic hurdles and the cost and hassles of plying their trade in the city. In February, Ms. Mark-Viverito proposed a new city Office of Labor to enforce labor laws. She also vowed to reduce fines and regulations on the city's small businesses.

The city government's website already lists a variety of ways it helps small business owners.

Mayor Bill de Blasio made reducing fines and tickets for small businesses a hallmark of his 2013 mayoral campaign. Last summer, he announced the creation of Small Business First, a cross-departmental initiative helmed by the Mayor's Office of Operations and Small Business Services, aimed at reducing the amount of fines levied against the city's small businesses. The plan, which would cost $27 million and last five years, was fully fleshed out last month.

As Crain's reported last year, many small businesses were concerned that the mayor would not deliver on his promise to ease penalties, which grew during the Bloomberg administration. In his preliminary budget last year, Mr. de Blasio projected that fine revenue would grow to $807.5 million—just $5 million less than the Bloomberg administration had projected for fiscal year 2015. But a few months later, the mayor said in his executive budget that the amount the city would collect in summonses would drop by 8%, to $789 million, in fiscal year 2015, from $859 million in fiscal 2012.

On the proposal to create a small-business advocate, a spokesman for the mayor said Mr. de Blasio would review the bill "closely."