EDITORIAL LIABILITY HOLE THE SAD STATE OF CITY STREETS IS COSTLY.

HERE'S a crash course in Los Angeles City Hall's Theory of Saving Money.

First, cut back on basic services, such as tree trimming and street repair.

Second, use even more of the city's general fund budget to hire fancy public-relations firms to make elected officials look good without actually doing good, buy new cars for council members and their staffs, and give lavish raises to secretaries and maintenance workers.

Third, deny the claims of residents whose homes, cars or bodies were damaged by falling tree limbs, cracked streets and potholes. Then hope the liability costs for the lawsuits don't eat up all the money needed for more police officers.

During this winter's rain, the city's savings formula was exposed as penny-not-so-wise and extremely pound-foolish.

The 36 inches of rain that fell this year sank into the unrepaired cracks, washed away chunks of poorly maintained roads and made the city's many potholes even more treacherous to the thousands of motorists passing over them each day.

As a result, the city has received about triple the number of claims it normally gets about damage from potholes: 631 between Dec. 26 and April 13.

Potholes won't bust the city budget, but they're part of a consistent pattern by city officials to save money by cutting vital services, then catching costs on the back end.

So little of the city's annual $5.3 billion in public funds ends up going to the basic upkeep of the city. That type of deception can be hidden for a short time, but it eventually comes out, as it did with the rains this winter. Considering the inaction by city officials, the pothole problem won't be fixed any time soon.

More than 4,000 miles of Los Angeles' 6,500 miles of streets need resurfacing. Yet, as part of his State of the City address Monday, Mayor James Hahn said his proposed budget for next year will pay for only 300 miles of resurfacing.

For the sake of Angeleno drivers, better pray for a drought next year.