MILFORD — Residents, whose taxpayer revolt last year attracted attention throughout Penobscot County and beyond, did an about-face Tuesday night at their annual town meeting.

A year ago, in the same room at the Dr. Lewis S. Libby School, voters irate at the prospect of a large tax increase responded to the plea of school officials for $200,000 in local option school funds by amending the amount to $1.

School officials, who already had cut roughly $250,000 in an earlier round of budget cuts, were forced to eliminate a variety of programs, personnel and purchases. Though the school budget proposed for last year was $100,000 less than the year before, a drop in state funding meant that more local dollars were needed.

Things were much different Tuesday night. Voters not only approved a spending plan from school officials with an 8.3 percent increase — they also kicked in an extra $27,000.

And that’s despite a projected tax increase from the current $16.80 per $1,000 in property to roughly $19 per $1,000, based on municipal and school spending proposals.

Approval of the school committee’s original $3,621,323 budget restored additional programs and personnel that were among the casualties of last year’s budget meltdown. It brought back some work hours for the school nurse, physical education and music instructors, a teacher aide, a classroom teacher and a directed-study teacher. It also brought funding for school supplies and materials back to the usual level.

The extra $27,000 will allow school officials to restore two half-time positions, one in guidance and the other in instrumental music, which this year were provided on a limited scale by community volunteers and other local support, Superintendent A. Keith Ober said Tuesday.

“It was tough going for the first few [school] articles,” Ober said. However, this year’s school budget proposal benefited from the support of members of at least four community groups — the Concerned Parents of Milford, the local parent-teacher organization, and the music and athletic boosters.

Parents of school children and others have spent the past year attending school committee meetings, getting acquainted with the budget process, writing letters to newspapers, and doing the politicking needed to sway fellow voters to their point of view.

Their work apparently paid off Tuesday.

“It was good news,” Ober said.

Voters approved a $1,170,872 budget for municipal operations. Although the 1997-98 budget is $80,165 lower than this year’s, Town Manager Scott Talcove said there is a need for $8,000 more local dollars than the town needed this year.