The Tohono O’Odham Nation of Arizona has made a $1.2 million payment to the city of Glendale as part of an agreement it signed two years ago before opening its Desert Diamond West Valley Casino And Resort.

Currently involved in a legal struggle with officials from the Arizona Department Of Gaming and Republican governor Doug Ducey for the right to receive a Class III gaming licence for the Phoenix-area venue, the Tohono O’Odham Nation opened its Class II Diamond West Valley Casino And Resort earlier in the year.

The tribe promised to pay Glendale $25 million over the next 20 years in return for the city agreeing to drop its opposition to the development. The Tohono O’Odham Nation revealed that the initial payment is smaller than the $1.5 million annual installments it initially agreed due to the casino not having yet been open for a full year.

Michael Bailey, City Attorney for Glendale, told local radio station KJZZ that he welcomed the first payment and explained why the city had dropped its opposition to the casino in 2014 following five years of negotiations.

“It went from a hostile relationship where we had been litigating for numerous years [to] where it was more of a recognition that this is an opportunity for a business to be established in or about Glendale that would bring jobs to the area,” Baliey told the radio station.

Bailey explained that $100,000 from every installment has been earmarked for the Glendale Convention And Visitors Bureau with the remainder going into the locality’s general fund.