‘Matanuska Thunder Festival’ holiday, sales tax hike head to Houston voters

What you need to know:

• Houston voters will decide whether a private festival hosted by the Houston Grass Station Campground should become the city’s first official holiday under a ballot measure approved by the City Council. Voters will also weigh a proposed sales tax increase aimed at funding road improvements.
• The measures were approved during a regular City Council meeting Thursday. They will appear on ballots during the city’s regular election in October.
• The proposals drew mixed reactions from residents and council members who spoke at the council meeting. Some council members said they support putting the measures on the ballot to allow voters to decide. 

HOUSTON — Houston voters will decide whether an annual private festival hosted by a marijuana business should become the city’s first official holiday and whether to temporarily raise the city sales tax to 4% on most consumer goods to fund local road projects.

The measures will appear on ballots during a regular election in October. They were approved by the Houston City Council during a regular council meeting Thursday. They join a ballot question passed by the council early last month that asks whether the city should establish an airport.

The Matanuska Thunder Festival, also known as Matanuska Thunder Funk, is a free, one-day, family-friendly event and food bank fundraiser hosted by the Houston Grass Station Campground, organizers said. The festival’s names are a play on a potent cannabis strain called “Matanuska Thunder F—,” or MTF, which is sold at a cannabis shop adjacent to the campground.

If approved by voters, the Matanuska Thunder Festival would become the city’s only officially designated holiday under Houston law.

Community members decried the measure when it was introduced last month because it is linked to the marijuana industry. But the annual festival is meant to promote community, not marijuana, said Ron Bass, who co-owns Houston Grass Station with his wife, Lacey Bass.

“It feels good to contribute to our local friends and family,” Bass told the council in a statement during Thursday’s meeting. “That’s why Lacy and I are pushing so hard to make this a local holiday. Please consider putting this on the ballot for all to vote on. If the public is in favor of this or not, the vote will decide.”

The event will feature food trucks, games, donkey cart rides, a dunk tank manned by Houston Mayor Carter Cole, and a local vendor market, he said. While the cannabis shop will be open during the event, smoking will be limited to a designated bus, he said in an interview last month.

Houston residents packed City Hall chambers Thursday evening to hear debate on the measures and speak during public comment. While several speakers criticized placing a private festival linked to cannabis on the ballot, more supported letting residents decide in October.

Despite its proximity to the Houston Grass Station, the event is one of the few child-friendly activities in the community, some residents said.

“I really am totally for it. It’s a great festival for the kids, and it’s a great opportunity for my kids to meet other kids,” said Houston resident Myriah, who asked that her last name not be used in this story. “I really do appreciate it.”

The council voted 4-3 to place Matanuska Thunder Festival on the ballot. Council members Lisa Johansen, Sandy McDonald and Kent Mitchell voted no.

Mitchell, Johansen and McDonald said they do not want the city government to be officially affiliated with what they consider a promotional event for a private cannabis business.

Other council members said voters should have a chance to weigh in.

“Anything that creates this much friction in a room and on the council, I think that our best opportunity here, our best way to present this and proceed, is to put it on a ballot,” Council member Jeffrey Brasel said during the meeting. “Let the residents vote. It passes? It passes. It fails? It fails.”

The proposal to place the holiday on the ballot was introduced by the council last month and originally designated the day as “Matanuska Thunder Funk,” not “Matanuska Thunder Festival.”

Cole unilaterally updated the proposal’s title to “Matanuska Thunder Festival” ahead of Thursday’s meeting, following a complaint from Bass. Such updates typically go before the council for a vote under procedural rules used by most government bodies, including Houston. The event, first held in 2023, has been known by both names.

The council on Thursday also approved a ballot question asking whether to temporarily raise the city’s sales tax. Houston currently charges a 2% sales tax on most consumer goods. The proposed increase would raise that rate to 4% until 2031, with exemptions for items such as heating fuel and firewood.

The sales tax ballot proposal was approved 5-2, with Johansen and McDonald voting no.

Johansen and McDonald said the city should officially approve a road improvement plan before putting such a tax measure before voters. Several residents expressed concern about how a tax increase would affect their businesses.

“I’m not going to speak for my customers, whether this is going to be an issue for them, but I do know that people are having a harder time now … just rebooking, rescheduling to work around their financial needs,” said Callie Courtney, a Houston resident who runs a dog grooming business. “If we’re raising the costs for them, that’s just going to make it harder.”

The council on Thursday also narrowly approved a series of election law changes that reduce the number of times the city must run notices in a local newspaper; change when those notices must be published; allow the clerk to decide whether to use hand counting or voting machines; and make a series of technical updates.

-- Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com