Note 10, Benefit Plans:

During the fourth quarter of 2014, we settled the obligations associated with our defined benefit pension plan (the “Pension Plan”). The Pension Plan covered substantially all employees hired on or before December 31, 2005 and was closed to any employees hired after that date. The benefits are based on years of service and the employee’s final average compensation. No new benefits were earned under the Pension Plan for additional years of service after December 31, 2006.

Pension Plan participants not yet retired received vested benefits from the plan assets by electing either a lump sum distribution, roll-over contribution to a 401(k) or individual retirement plans, or an annuity contract with a third-party insurance company. Retired participants automatically received annuities. Pension settlement charges of $21,623,000, before tax, were recorded during the fourth quarter of 2014 as payments were made from the Plan in accordance with the participants’ elections.

The remaining $813,000 in plan assets at December 31, 2014 will fund additional plan termination professional fees, administration expenses and any required adjustments identified to amounts settled, with the remainder distributed equally to current plan participants after governmental reviews are completed. Accordingly, at December 31, 2016 and 2015, we had no future obligations related to the terminated Pension Plan.

We also have a non-qualified, non-contributory supplemental executive retirement plan (the “SERP”) for employees whose retirement benefits are reduced due to their annual compensation levels. The SERP provides annual benefits amounting to 55% of final average earnings less benefits payable from our pension plan and Social Security benefits. The SERP limits the total amount of annual retirement benefits that may be paid to a participant from all sources (Retirement Plan, Social Security and the SERP) to $125,000. The SERP is not funded so we pay benefits directly to participants. The SERP was frozen as of December 31, 2015 and no additional benefits were accrued after that date.

The following table summarizes information about our SERP.

(In thousands)	2016			2015
Change in benefit obligation:
Benefit obligation at beginning of the year	$	7,719		$	7,270
Service cost		—			129
Interest cost		341			314
Plan curtailments		—			(87	)
Actuarial losses (gains)		(72	)		317
Benefits paid		(314	)		(224	)
Benefit obligation at end of year		7,674			7,719
Change in plan assets:
Employer contribution		314			224
Benefits paid		(314	)		(224	)
Fair value of plan assets at end of year		—			—
Funded status of the plan – (underfunded)	$	(7,674	)	$	(7,719	)
Accumulated benefit obligations	$	7,674		$	7,719

Amounts recognized in the consolidated balance sheets consist of:


(In thousands)	2016			2015
Current liabilities	$	(369	)	$	(287	)
Noncurrent liabilities		(7,305	)		(7,432	)
	$	(7,674	)	$	(7,719	)

The net actuarial loss recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) before the effect of income taxes was $1,550,000 in 2016 and $1,724,000 in 2015.

Net pension cost included the following components:

	Pension Plan					SERP
(In thousands)	2014					2016		2015		2014
Service cost-benefits earned during the period		$	—		$		—	$	129		$	117
Interest cost on projected benefit obligation			3,232				341		314			289
Expected return on plan assets			(4,475	)			—		—			—
Amortization of prior service cost			—				—		210			210
Amortization of actuarial loss			244				102		169			—
Settlement loss recognized			20,810				—		—			—
Curtailment loss recognized			—				—		222			—
Special termination benefit recognized			813				—		—			—
Net pension costs		$	20,624		$		443	$	1,044		$	616

The net periodic benefit cost for the SERP for the year ended December 31, 2015, includes the impact of freezing the plan as of December 31, 2015, which resulted in fully recognizing the outstanding prior service cost basis at that date. The estimated amount that will be amortized from accumulated other comprehensive loss into net periodic cost in 2017 is approximately $100,000 for the SERP.

Assumptions

We use a measurement date of December 31 for our pension and SERP plan. Assumptions used to determine net periodic benefit cost for years ended December 31 are as follows:

	Pension Plan		SERP
	2014		2016		2015		2014
Discount rate		4.93%		4.58%		4.09%		4.96%
Expected long-term return on plan assets		6.00%		n/a		n/a		n/a
Rate of compensation increase		n/a		n/a		3.50%		3.50%

For purposes of determining the periodic expense of our defined benefit plan, we use fair market value of plan assets as the market related value.

Assumptions used to determine benefit obligations at December 31 for the SERP are as follows:


	2016		2015
Discount rate		4.30%		4.58%
Rate of compensation increase		n/a		3.50%

Cash Flows

The following schedule outlines the expected benefit payments related to the SERP in future years. These expected benefits were estimated based on the same actuarial assumptions used to determine benefit obligations at December 31, 2016.

(In thousands)
	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022-2026
Benefit Payments	$369	$372	$383	$411	$439	$2,343

Other Plans

We have an employee savings/retirement (401(k)) plan to which substantially all our employees may contribute. We match employee contributions 100% of the first 1% of eligible pay and 50% of the next 5% contributed by participants. We expensed matching employer contributions of approximately $3,884,000, $3,661,000 and $3,449,000 in 2016, 2015 and 2014, respectively.

We offer no post-retirement benefits other than the plans discussed above and no significant post-employment benefits.