Before Rob Miodus leaves his post as chairman of the Holley-Navarre Fire District this fall, he's pledged to see through a referendum initiative that would increase the district's budget by 26-percent, phased in over five years. The tax increase request would be put before voters in the November election.

However, the four-year fire commissioner is having a hard time rallying the support of fellow board members, Shannon Stone and David Stone.

Despite initially supporting the measure, both father and son revealed their uneasiness about asking voters to approve a tax increase in light of the potential negative economic impact of the April 20 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

"We don't know what the long-term effect will be on this economy," David Stone said during the fire commissioner's monthly meeting June 28. "I just can't support going out there and asking for more money. That's my position. I think we need to do what we can with what we have."