A rate increase of 4.5 per cent unveiled in Tuesday's "soft budget", down on previous increases of 10 per cent, is a welcome yet obvious "election sweetener", according to Gungahlin home owner Emily Stuchbery.
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Mrs Stuchbery has lived in Gungahlin with husband Matthew and children Jean and Laila, 3, and Alby, 2, since the family bought their home in 2011.
She said the ACT government's decision to back away from phasing out stamp duty and instead aim to have the lowest rates in Australia seemed fairer.
"When they first announced they were going to phase out stamp duty we had just bought our home so that really annoyed me," she said.
"I think it's great to reduce the cost of buying a house, but I think it's better to be done in a more gradual way."
Mrs Stuchbery welcomed Tuesday's "safe" budget, but said it was unlikely to influence the way she would vote in October's territory election provided the government stuck to its commitments.
"They're trying not to upset anybody…. and you've got to expect that in an election year," she said.
"Especially with the rate increase cut… there's nothing in there I'm disappointed about."
Before the budget Mrs Stuchbery said she had been paying closer attention to the federal budget and looming election and was confident the territory government would remain supportive of families.
But she said she would be disappointed to see cuts to health or education.
On Tuesday Mrs Stuchbery welcomed the $20 million to add 680 student places to schools in Gungahlin, including the extra 200 places for Harrison where the family planned to enrol their children.
But she would have liked to have seen funds invested in a new primary school closer to Gungahlin's town centre.
"I'm particularly pleased to see an increase in preschool places as well," she said.
"When I was looking around for any three-year-old preschool options in Canberra they were very limited.
"Harrison is already a reasonably big school… so it needs to be managed carefully to allocate those places and look after the students."
Mrs Stuchbery said she and her husband were keen to see Canberra's light rail go ahead and both planned to catch it to work each day.
She hoped the government's commitment to stage two of the project would help sway the project's opponents.
"Because it's such a long-term project I would hate to see political will shift so it doesn't get finished," she said.
While Gungahlin wouldn't benefit directly, she also welcomed the extra $17 million for ACTION buses – in particular the free city bus service that she hoped would boost tourism.
As a youth engagement worker with the Ted Noffs Foundation, Mrs Stuchbery welcomed increased spending on drug and alcohol services and the greater focus on mental health.
Initiatives to improve hospital waiting times were also much-needed.
"We've had to take our kids to emergency a few times… whatever they can do to decrease the waiting time when you have nowhere else to go after hours is a positive thing," she said.
Mrs Stuchbery said it was "great timing" for the $30 per household Safer Families levy while public support was strong.
"It shocks me that domestic violence is such an issue still that hasn't been on the agenda until now," she said.
While the budget had overlooked little, Mrs Stuchbery said she was disappointed the government had not committed to a full rollout of green waste bins.
