And when the casino opens, Mayor Tom Hoye said, this city 40 miles south of Boston can expect a renaissance of sorts, adding $8 million a year to its municipal budget, additional police and firefighters, and thousands of new private sector jobs.

“We’re seeing it a little already from the opening of the Plainridge Casino which is 12 miles from our borders…but it’s been minimal thus far”.

Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs Kevin Washburn said the government will acquire 170 acres in the town of Mashpee for tribal governmental, cultural and conservation purposes and 151 acres in Taunton for building a resort casino.

A compact between the state and the tribe stipulates that a tribal casino in Taunton would pay the state 17 percent of its gambling revenue in lieu of taxes, provided there are no commercial casinos in southeastern Massachusetts, an area defined as Bristol County, Plymouth County and the Cape and Islands.

Just two months ago, Plainridge Casino opened up its doors in Plainville, bringing in a whopping $18 million in gross gambling revenue in its first month.

“Our success to date has been the result of a truly historic partnership between the city and our people”, Tribal Council Chairman Cedric Cromwell said in a statement.

The proponents of a New Bedford casino cited the prospect of a Mashpee Wampanoag casino in Taunton when they announced in July that they were dropping out of the running for the Region C license.

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Interior established sovereign tribal lands in Taunton and Mashpee for the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe. The decision cleared the way for the tribe to establish a casino on its Taunton property – assuming it is not held up by likely court challenges. Under federal law, a tribe may conduct gambling on trust land if the land is the “initial reservation” of an Indian tribe.

A lawsuit, if one is filed, would name the federal government as the defendant, not the Mashpee, and would be defended by the Department of Justice, she said. “The Justice Department is intimately familiar with it and is prepared to defend it”. The move re-establishes the tribe’s sovereign territory in Southeastern Massachusetts.

“We believe, based on experience and significant market research, that a casino in Brockton would be successful even with a tribal casino in Taunton”, said Joe Baerlein, a spokesman for Mass Gaming & Entertainment. It took roughly eight years for the process to conclude.

Twin River unveiled a concept in April to create a casino in a remote section of Tiverton, close to the state line with Fall River, as a way of countering the casino threat from Massachusetts.

The Associated Press reported that Mass Gaming and Entertainment still wants the commission to award it the license, despite the federal recognition of the tribe.

The commission has been silent on what it intends to do, while the Mashpee have pledged to honor the compact.

MGM Resorts is planning a casino for Springfield, while Wynn Resorts is looking to build a gaming resort in Everett.