Vicksburg officials have hired a Delaware law firm to represent the city in a bankruptcy suit for the parent company of a local casino, a move to ensure the city receives money it is owed for land the casino uses.

The Board of Mayor and Aldermen voted to hire Bifferato Gentilotti for representation in the bankruptcy proceedings for Tropicana Entertainment LLC, which filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month. The company was started by hotel and casino investor Columbia-Sussex Corporation, the same company that owns Horizon Vicksburg Casino & Hotel.

City Attorney Nancy Thomas said Columbia-Sussex owes the city money based on an agreement the city and the original owner entered into more than 15 years ago when the casino was built as Harrah’s. The agreement, essentially, stated that the city would convey to the casino five or six parcels of land, including where the casino’s parking garage is and air rights over Levee Street. Land not included in the deal is the 36,000-square-foot casino and 117-room hotel, Thomas added. As payment, Harrah’s agreed to pay a fixed annual fee, in addition to 1.5 percent of net proceeds from the operation. Thomas said monthly payments average between $80,000 and $90,000.

The city also gave the casino ownership rights to City Front, but allowed the city to lease it for $1 a year and allow public access. Ten years later, when ownership of the casino changed and the name became Horizon, Columbia-Sussex agreed to the same deal, but the reversion clause was extended through 2033. The clause allows the city to re-aquire City Front and the other parcels if the casino doesn’t develop the property for a second casino within the allotted time, part of the original deal. Adding another boat would mean paying the city $450,000. Under the agreement, Horizon could terminate the lease by giving 120 days’ notice and paying the city $450,000 plus casino net revenues.

When the casino filed for bankruptcy, however, the company had stopped making payments to the city, Thomas said. Although the owners have since made a payment, the city will make sure it gets what it’s owed by having attorneys who are aware of the agreement sit in on the bankruptcy hearings, Thomas indicated, adding that the law firm will help protect the city’s long-term interest.

“We want to make sure we’re getting the benefit of everything we’re supposed to get,” Thomas said. “It’s too much money not to make sure you’re protected.”

In November, Houston-based Nevada Gold Casinos Inc. signed an agreement to purchase Horizon from Columbia-Sussex for about $35 million, pending approval and licensing from the Mississippi Gaming Commission. The sale, however, is on hold until the bankruptcy court approves it.

In a similar move earlier this year, Warren County decided to file briefs in federal bankruptcy court to protect itself from losing property tax revenue for 2008 from DiamondJacks Casino, a gaming property south of Horizon. The casino’s parent company, Legends Gaming LLC, filed for Chapter 11 in March in a dispute with its lenders over interest rates on the $215 million loan it secured to purchase property here and in Bossier City, La., both former Isle of Capri casinos. DiamondJacks, which owns five parcels of real and personal property, paid Warren County $1,042,215.21 in taxes for 2007.