GARY, Ind. (AP) — Indiana's regional police training academies want state legislators to bolster their funding by adding a $1 surcharge on annual license plate renewals and other BMV transactions.

The move would raise about $12.5 million, or $1.8 million for each of the seven academies where local police officers are trained.

State Sen. Frank Mrvan, D-Hammond, introduced the bill for the state Bureau of Motor Vehicles fee this year, but it did not advance during the legislative session that ended in March.

"The quality and professionalism of our police officers contributes to a higher quality of life in northwest Indiana," Mrvan said. "As long as the law enforcement training academies need funding, I'll be looking for ways to support them in that effort."

Last year, Mrvan engineered a one-time state grant of $150,000 to supplement funding the Northwest Indiana Law Enforcement Academy in Gary receives from local casino revenue and membership dues.

He and state Sen. Jim Arnold, D-LaPorte — a former LaPorte sheriff — pitched the BMV fee to a legislative study committee this month. The Northwest Indiana academy, founded in 1982, provides training to nearly 60 law enforcement agencies in seven counties, said executive director Timothy Wardrip, a former Merrillville police officer.

"It would be a substantial increase in funding for us if that bill passes," Wardrip said. "That actually was our initiative up here. Sen. Mrvan and Sen. Arnold initially authored that bill for us."

The Northwest Indiana academy currently receives about $150,000 a year in casino revenue and an equal amount in fees paid by police departments that send officers for training, he said.

The academy has relied on member departments to loan senior officers to serve as academy instructors for a year at a time.

But Wardrip said budget constraints have made member departments less willing to loan staff, forcing the academy to hire a pair of full-time instructors.

The proposed BMV fee would close the $150,000 budget gap that will open when the one-time state funding secured by Mrvan expires next summer.

The other training sites that would receive funding are the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy and Indiana State Police Academy, both in Plainfield, and regional programs in Bloomington, Fort Wayne, Evansville and Indianapolis.

State budget negotiations are expected to be intense next year, given the national economic downturn and a recent property tax overhaul that will shift $1 billion in annual local government costs to the state.

The proposed BMV fee would not take money from other programs, but the proposal comes on the heels of a 30 cent vehicle registration hike approved this year to generate $2 million a year for brain and spinal cord injury research.

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Information from: The Times, http://nwitimes.com