Kudos goes to Magnolia Bluffs Casino President Kevin Preston for attempting to hold the City of Natchez to an agreement between the two entities.

Tuesday Preston invited city leaders to the casino to discuss that the deal between the city — which leases its riverfront land to the casino — and the casino had a few stipulations.

Namely, some of the money the casino pays the city as part of its operating lease is to be spent not at the will of the political board of aldermen or mayor, but by a committee that — more than a year after the casino first began operating — still hasn’t been formed.

Clearly Preston has an agenda in doing this. He simply wants to know how the funds will be spent and to ensure the casino gets a little credit for the money in the process.

That seems only fair.

The annual lease money coming into the city coffers is important to the city’s budget.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Alderman Dan Dillard pointed out that of last year’s $1 million lease payment approximately half was spent on much-needed street repairs, with another $500,000 planned for later this year.

The city’s proverbial wagon is securely fixed to the casino for the long haul, so it’s good to see the two sides publicly working out the matter of how to invest the funds.

If we had our way, we’d throw every dollar earned through the arrangement toward infrastructure improvements.