EDITORIAL A VERY TINY STEP LOCAL LEADERS' REACTION TO GANG REPORT ISN'T FUNNY, IT'S SAD.

IF the gang problem in Los Angeles weren't so deadly and destructive, the plans put forward Tuesday by local leaders to deal with it would be comical.

But there's nothing funny about this crisis -- or City Hall's response to it.

First, there's City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who has the audacity to propose taxing property owners in the city a total of $50 million a year to fund some unspecified anti-gang programs. Never mind that we've been paying dearly for anti-gang programs for decades, while seeing only fragmented and ineffective efforts as generation after generation of youths end up in prison or the morgue.

Hahn's tax proposal -- for all its well-meaning intentions to deal with this epidemic -- is out of touch with the reality of the city's residents and businesses who pay through the teeth in hopes of having a better community but are betrayed year after year by City Hall.

Then there's Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and county Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky.

In response to civil-rights attorney Connie Rice's scathing report about local government's failure to deal effectively with gangs, the two leaders announced that six probation officers would work closely with police for a few months to go after hoodlums in the San Fernando Valley, where gang violence is up 40 percent.

There's nothing wrong this plan, but it's a very tiny step along the long road of coming to terms with the real issues. Putting six probation officers in an area as large as the Valley is a far cry from the economic opportunity, educational improvement, and prevention and intervention programs that are needed to reform the deadly gang culture.

A massive, all-out effort is what's needed -- and has been needed for decades. And that will take a total commitment of local political, community and educational leaders to end this scourge.

But what's not needed -- take note, Janice Hahn -- is more money for City Hall. There's already a big pot of cash in the city treasury to help jump-start this effort.

Remember when City Hall jacked up garbage-collection fees last year, promising to hire 1,000 more cops to make us safe? Well, the plan isn't going so well, since the LAPD can't hire new officers faster than old ones retire or quit. The result is a $75 million pot of money left unspent.

That's cash just waiting to be used for this problem. It could be spent to pay cops overtime to provide added patrols. It could fund comprehensive gang programs. It could do a lot more than re-assign a half-dozen probation officers.

What city and county leaders need isn't more money, but the will and the courage to act and to start giving taxpayers value for their money.