Three counties in northwest Iowa have passed a local option sales tax for school improvement projects. Sixty-one percent of the voters in Lyon County approved the extra penny of sales tax. O’Brien County overwhelmingly passed the one-cent local option sales tax for schools with 71 percent voters approval. In Osceola County approved the measure with about 65 percent support. Retailers in the three counties will begin charging that extra penny of sales tax on January 1st.