NEW GLOUCESTER — Residents in December will vote for a third time on a budget for the town’s library, which has been closed since mid-September after voters rejected a second budget proposal.

The latest proposal of $102,033, to be voted on Dec. 15, is down $4,000 from last year’s budget, and funds the positions of the library director and assistant librarian positions at 36 hours each with benefits,  four hours less for both positions than last year.

When the library closed last month, Director Suzan Hawkins and assistant Carla McAllister were laid off. If the latest library budget proposal is approved, the town will be able to fill those two position with no guarantee that Hawkins and McAllister will be rehired.

The new budget will not affect the property tax rate, according to Town Manager Brenda Fox-Howard.

In August, the Selectboard set this year’s property tax rate at $13.65 per thousand dollars of assessed property value, a 19.23%, or $3.25 decrease from last year’s tax rate of $16.90.