ALBANY - The New York State Thruway Authority edged closer Wednesday to further increasing tolls by 5 percent in 2009 and another 5 percent in 2010.

The agency's board of directors endorsed spending plans based on the roughly $375 million officials said the higher tolls would bring in through 2011 and pushed ahead with the toll-hike proposal.

The pair of proposed 5 percent hikes - along with lower discounts for drivers who use the EZ-Pass electronic toll collecting system - would come on top of a 10 percent increase effective Jan. 1.

The Thruway Authority's board didn't vote to implement the 2009 and 2010 hikes. Instead, it voted on whether to move ahead with a formal toll-hike proposal and seek public and legislative comment, said Thruway Executive Director Michael Fleischer.

“This is a plan,” Fleischer said. “It may not be a perfect plan and is certainly subject to revision.”

The final decision on whether to raise tolls and by how much will be made in mid-April, Fleischer said.

Since Thruway officials floated the toll hike plan last month, there has been an outcry across the state and in the Capitol.

Lawmakers from both parties and Gov. Eliot Spitzer have pressured the Thruway Authority not to consider the higher tolls until state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli finishes evaluating the idea. A spokesman for the comptroller said that review is expected to be finished by the middle of January.

Neither Spitzer nor the Legislature control the authority, which was created to be independent.

Still, the toll issue prompted Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver to call last week for the resignation of the authority's board of directors - all appointed by former Gov. George Pataki - to give Spitzer more influence over Thruway policy.

Before the Thruway board vote Wednesday, Silver issued a statement urging directors to block any toll increases until DiNapoli's tolls audit is complete and warned those who didn't that they'd be called to an Assembly committee hearing “to explain their support for higher tolls.”

Dan Weiler, Silver's spokesman, said that hearing is expected to be held within a month.

The Spitzer administration has voiced concerns about the proposed toll hikes and has asked the Thruway but hasn't firmly rejected the idea.

“We cannot support any toll increase without first reviewing the anticipated audit and without clarification from the Thruway on information we requested,” Christine Pritchard, a Spitzer spokeswoman, said Wednesday.

Mark Hansen, a spokesman for Senate majority leader Joseph Bruno, said the Senate has vigorously rejected the toll hike plan and would like to see the governor take a stronger position and join legislative leaders to find a way to stop it.

During Wednesday's meeting, Thruway board members said they've been frustrated by some of the public comments coming from lawmakers and other state officials.

“We have been maligned,” said Nancy E. Carey Cassidy, who was first appointed by Gov. Mario Cuomo in 1993.

Others complained about state-mandated costs - including operation of the money-losing Canal Corporation which the Legislature folded into the Thruway Authority in 1992 - that used to be paid from the state's general fund.

Fleischer said the Thruway Authority will not take final action until after the state budget is adopted, which will enable them to adjust the toll plan if the Legislature and the governor find a way to share some of those costs.