Commitments and Contingencies (Notes)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Lease Commitments

We lease certain office and residential space under non-cancelable operating leases with various lease terms through June 2043. Rent expense for the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015 was $4.7 million, $3.9 million and $3.7 million, respectively.

In January 2018, we signed a new lease for approximately 30,000 square feet that will replace our existing offices in Denver and Boulder. The aggregate annual payments under the new lease will be approximately $1.0 million and are subject to annual increases over the lease term, which expires in February 2029.

We lease computer equipment under capital lease agreements that expire through September 2018. The total amount financed under these capital leases was $0.5 million during the year ended December 31, 2015. No new assets were financed under capital leases during the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016.

Build to Suit

We entered into a lease agreement for land and an office building in Ames, Iowa, which was constructed in two phases. As part of the lease agreement, the landlord was responsible for constructing the building in accordance with our specifications and agreed to fund $11.8 million for the first phase and $11.1 million for the second phase of construction. We were the developer of the project and responsible for construction costs in excess of these amounts. As a result of this involvement, we were deemed the “owner” for accounting purposes during the construction period and were required to capitalize the construction costs associated with the office building. Upon completion of each phase of the project, we performed a sale-leaseback analysis pursuant to ASC 840, Leases, to determine if the building could be removed from the balance sheet. We determined there was continuing involvement, which precluded derecognition of the building. The construction liability of $11.8 million was reclassified to a financing obligation, and $17.1 million of costs capitalized during construction was placed in service during June 2013 for the initial phase. Upon completion of the second phase of the project, the construction liability of $11.1 million was reclassified to a financing obligation, and $19.9 million of costs capitalized during construction was placed in service during 2014.

Total cash payments due under the arrangement were allocated on a relative fair value basis between rent related to the land lease and debt service payments related to the financing obligation. The portion of the lease payments allocated to the land is expensed on a straight-line basis over the term of the lease from the point we took possession of the land and including renewal periods where renewal was deemed reasonably assured at the inception of the lease. The lease contains purchase options to acquire the landlord’s interest in the land lease and building at any time beginning three years from the commencement date of the lease. In addition, the lease requires us upon certain events, such as a change in control, to purchase the building from the landlord. The purchase options were deemed to be fair value at the inception of the lease.

As of December 31, 2017, future estimated minimum lease payments under non-cancelable operating, capital and financing leases were as follows (in thousands):


	Operating Leases		Capital Leases		Financing Obligations
2018	$	3,659	$	66	$	2,792
2019	2,630		—		2,792
2020	2,235		—		2,792
2021	2,187		—		2,792
2022	1,887		—		2,564
Thereafter	6,246		—		25,650
Total minimum lease payments	$	18,844	66		39,382
Less: Amount representing interest			(2)		(19,853)
Present value of capital lease and financing obligations			$	64	$	19,529

Government Grants

Since 2009, we have participated in a program with a local area community college, enlisted by the state of Iowa, that provides reimbursement of training dollars spent on employees hired in Iowa. The community college funds training through the sale of certificates for the amount of anticipated training expenses to be incurred and an estimate of the costs to administer the program. At each payroll date, the state allows us to divert a specified portion of employee state income tax withholdings for the qualified employees to the community college. The community college uses the funds to pay for the program and principal and interest on the certificates. In the event that the funds generated from withholding taxes are insufficient to pay the principal and interest on the certificates, we would be liable for any shortfall. To date, we have entered into five agreements under this program. In addition, we have been reimbursed for training costs incurred for a total of 410 employees.

During the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, we were reimbursed $52,000, $83,000 and $0, respectively. We have concluded that the realization of these amounts is contingent on continuing employment levels. Therefore, in accordance with ASC 450, the amounts received are recorded on the balance sheet as a liability until all contingencies have been resolved. We release the liability to “Other income, net” on our statement of operations once the amounts diverted and paid to the community college have reduced the total principal and interest due on the certificates to a level below the amounts reimbursed to date. The amount recognized in other income is measured as the excess of the reimbursements received as of each balance sheet date over the total principal and interest due on the certificates, net of amounts diverted. To the extent we have not diverted amounts sufficient to reduce the principal and interest on the certificates to a level below the reimbursements received for each of the programs, there is no benefit recorded in the statement of operations.

During the years ended December 31, 2017, 2016 and 2015, the total benefit recorded on the statement of operations was $1.6 million, $1.0 million and $744,000, respectively. At December 31, 2017 and 2016, there was $261,000 and $1.8 million included in “Deferred government grant obligation” on the consolidated balance sheet, respectively. The deferred liability is classified as current or non-current based on the estimated timing of when the amounts will be recorded as income. At December 31, 2017 and 2016, there was $217,000 and $1.0 million classified as a current liability, respectively.

In February 2011, we received financing from the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) that provided for a grant in the form of a forgivable loan totaling $2.3 million. In December 2015, after completing the project close out procedures, IEDA determined that 10 of the 251 positions originally hired under this grant did not meet minimum wage requirements resulting in a repayment of $88,000. The remaining balance under the forgivable loan portion of this government grant of $2.2 million was recognized during the fourth quarter of 2015, with $608,000 recorded as a reduction of our property and equipment and $1.6 million included in “Other income, net” on the consolidated statement of operations. At December 31, 2017 and 2016, there were no amounts outstanding related to the forgivable loan included in “Deferred government grant obligation” on the consolidated balance sheet.

Other Purchase Commitments

In November 2017, we entered into an agreement with a third party provider of cloud infrastructure services for a period of two years beginning December 1, 2017. The agreement provides that we are committed to pay $4.1 million and $4.8 million during the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2019, respectively.

Litigation

From time to time we may become involved in legal proceedings or be subject to claims arising in the ordinary course of our business. Although the results of litigation and claims cannot be predicted with certainty, we currently believe that the final outcome of any currently pending legal proceedings to which we are a party will not have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, financial condition or cash flows. Regardless of the outcome, litigation can have an adverse impact on us because of defense and settlement costs, diversion of management resources and other factors.