Metro

B’klyn Congressman overpaying for car lease

(Gregory P. Mango)

TOWNS CAR: Rep. Edolphus Towns is paying more for the lease on his taxpayer-provided Mercury Milan than its cost. (
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WASHINGTON — He’s taking the taxpayers for one stylish ride!

Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-Brooklyn) has one of the most expensive taxpayer-financed car leases in Congress, The Post has learned.

At $1,285 per month, Towns’ 2-year lease on a 2010 Mercury Milan Hybrid for tooling around his district will cost taxpayers more than $30,000 — enough to buy the vehicle new.

“That’s too much!” roared a salesman at a Ford dealership in Brooklyn that sold and leased Mercuries before Ford discontinued the brand.

“That price is for a big, luxury truck . . . like a Lincoln MKT,” which sold for about $49,000 in 2010, said the salesman, who didn’t want to be identified as he talked about a congressman’s spending.

The manufacturer’s suggested retail price for a 2010 Mercury Milan Hybrid was $28,180.

A leased car is supposed to be cheaper — usually at least 50 percent cheaper — than buying it.

A two-year lease on the comparable Ford Fusion Hybrid with no money down would currently run about $560 per month, the Brooklyn dealer said.

Towns refused to release a copy of his lease to The Post. His office said the lease did not include an option to buy, which House rules prohibit.

It remained unclear who would benefit when the lease ends in May and the car is essentially paid off.

Towns spokesman Julian Phillips was unable to explain why the lease is so costly.

“It is what it is,” Phillips said. “When he leases his new car, it will be less expensive than this — I’m sure of it.”

Towns is more frugal when he’s not spending taxpayer dollars. The Infiniti he leases with money out of his campaign coffers costs $600 a month, federal campaign-finance reports show.

Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-Queens), the target of separate probes by the House and the feds, has a $1,197-per-month lease on a Lexus for conducting district business.