AUGUSTA ? A movement to repeal the November 2003 vote authorizing slot machines for the state’s commercial harness racing tracks could delay work on Penn National Gaming Inc.’s permanent gaming facility in Bangor, a corporate executive said Thursday during a meeting of the Maine Gambling Control Board.

Anti-gambling concerns and church groups are gathering signatures in their effort to bring the matter to referendum, likely in November 2006.

Though Penn hopes to start construction on the permanent facility in Bangor next year, the possibility that slots might be outlawed could push the start of construction into 2007, depending on how the results come down.

“Prudence would dictate that this would be the case,” Steve Snyder, Penn senior vice president for corporate development, said during the meeting, held at the Department of Public Safety’s headquarters.

The company plans to invest $75 million in the permanent facility, which would be built near Bangor Raceway. Plans for an interim facility at Miller’s Restaurant on Main Street, which Penn is acquiring for $3.8 million, added another $15 million, including construc-

tion, equipment and renovations, to Penn’s budget for its operations in Maine.

If a referendum happens, Snyder said, the company might hold off on its permanent facility until after the election, which could push the start of construction into 2007.

The gambling board also on Thursday reviewed license application procedures and met the general manager tapped for Penn National Gaming Inc.’s gambling facility in Bangor.

Jon Johnson, whose most recent post was as assistant general manager of Penn’s Hollywood Casino in Tunica, Miss., will be running day-to-day operations at Penn’s interim slots facility, set to open in November or December. His appointment is subject to a state-mandated background check and approval by the gambling control board.

Johnson’s background check will be the first one undertaken by the board for a key employee.

“I would just like to say that I’m very happy to be here,” Johnson told board members. “If approved by you, I would like to get to work right away.”

According to Snyder, Johnson was selected because he has held a number of key positions in the gaming industry, including internal auditor, senior accountant, casino controller, vice president of finance and chief financial officer.

“By trade, I’m an accountant,” Johnson said, adding that he also had served as a chief financial officer for the last 10 years and, as such, has a working knowledge of compliance with gaming regulations.

In response to a question from Board Member Michael Peters, Johnson said that he did not have experience in racetrack management. Snyder, however, said the company is retaining Fred Nichols, who has been managing the racetrack for more than a decade. Snyder also said that the company is retaining some of the off-track betting employees from Miller’s after that business closes and the OTB moves to the grandstand at Bangor Raceway.

The transfer of Miller’s OTB license to Penn National will be the subject of a hearing of the Maine Harness Racing Commission set for 11 a.m., Friday, May 27, at the Augusta Civic Center. The session will take place in the Kennebec Room, according to a public notice.

The interim facility Johnson will manage will house 475 slots. It will be located at Miller’s Restaurant on Main Street in Bangor. The permanent facility would house 1,500 machines

In other developments, Executive Director Robert Welch said the board has received an application for a slots distributor license, and the $200,000 application fee, from International Game Technology of Reno, Nev. The company, founded in 1952, specializes in the design, development, manufacturing, distribution and sales of computerized gaming machines and systems products.

Snyder said two other distributors have expressed interest and might apply for licenses as well.

Also Thursday, Welch showed board members samples of the decals the state will affix to registered slot machines and the identification badges the board will issue to licensed slots employees. The decals, which are being produced by a Bangor company, are designed to separate into two layers if removed from slots; the layer still stuck to the machine will be bear the word “void.”

The board’s next meeting is set for Thursday, June 16.