The Metropolitan Museum of Art has moved one step closer to mandatory admission fees: It filed a formal proposal with the city this week to charge admission to out-of-state visitors, a lawyer revealed in a court hearing on Friday, a controversial idea given that the Met is in part supported by tax dollars and currently has only a “suggested” entrance fee.

The suggested fee would be “only for residents of the City of New York and New York State,” Bruce R. Kelly of Arnold & Porter, a lawyer for the Met, said in New York Supreme Court Friday. “For everyone else, the admission would be mandatory.”

The proposal must be approved by the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio administration because the city owns the Met building. Asked for his reaction, Tom Finkelpearl, the city’s commissioner of cultural affairs, said in a statement: “We will review it carefully. The city is committed to working with the Met to ensure that its unrivaled collection and programming remain accessible to all New Yorkers.”

The hearing before Justice Shirley Werner Kornreich was held to approve a settlement reached last year over the Met’s admissions policy; two lawsuits had asserted that the wording on signs at the admissions desks was deceptive and pressured visitors to pay $25 even though, under the museum’s policy, they could pay whatever they wished.