Note 9 - Equity-Method Investment

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

Equity Method Investments and Joint Ventures Disclosure [Text Block]

Note 9. Equity-Method Investment

In October 2014, we acquired a 99.9% membership interest in a limited liability company managed by U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation with an initial equity contribution of $4.1 million. We made additional equity contributions to the entity of $17.1 million in the first nine months of 2016 and $22.8 million in the full year of 2015. We are obligated to make $49.8 million of total contributions in quarterly installments to the entity over a two-year period ending October 2016, of which $44.0 million in contributions have been made as of September 30, 2016.

This investment generates new markets tax credits under the New Markets Tax Credit Program (“NMTC Program”). The NMTC Program was established by Congress in 2000 to spur new or increased investments into operating businesses and real estate projects located in low-income communities.

While U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corporation exercises management control over the limited liability company, due to the economic interest we hold in the entity, we determined our ownership portion of the entity was appropriately accounted for using the equity method.

The following amounts related to this equity-method investment were recorded in our Consolidated Balance Sheets (in thousands):

	September 30, 2016		December 31, 2015
Carrying value, recorded as a component of other non-current assets	$	5,594	$	22,284
Present value of obligation associated with future equity contributions, recorded as a component of accrued liabilities		5,674		22,511

The following amounts related to this equity-method investment were recorded in our Consolidated Statements of Operations (in thousands):

	Three Months Ended September 30,				Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2016		2015		2016		2015
Asset impairments to write investment down to fair value	$	3,498	$	4,131	$	10,494	$	12,391
Our portion of the partnership’s operating losses		2,066		1,731		6,197		5,196
Non-cash interest expense related to the amortization of the discounted fair value of future equity contributions		31		155		185		549
Tax benefits and credits generated		7,592		7,414		20,374		22,316