7. Long-Term Debt

Long-term debt and short-term loans are summarized as follows:



	2017		2016
Bonds payable:
Senior notes, interest rate of 5.75%, maturing 2023	$	700,000,000	$	700,000,000
Recovery Zone Facility Bonds, maturing 2036		81,620,000		86,150,000
Outstanding line of credit, weighted average interest rate of 4.25% for 2017		—		—
Notes payable due to banks, weighted average interest rate of 3.24% for 2017 and 3.38% for 2016		103,471,449		98,429,184
Less unamortized prepaid loan costs		(7,221,134)		(8,105,090)
Total long-term debt		877,870,315		876,474,094
Less current portion		12,210,571		10,000,629
Long-term debt, net of current portion	$	865,659,744	$	866,473,465

In June 2013, the Company issued $700.0 million aggregate principal amount of senior notes due in 2023 (the “Notes”) in a private placement. The Notes bear an interest rate of 5.75% per annum and were issued at par. The Company filed a registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission and exchanged the private placement notes with registered notes.

The Company may redeem all or a portion of the Notes at any time on or after June 15, 2018 at the following redemption prices (expressed as percentages of the principal amount), if redeemed during the 12-month period beginning June 15 of the years indicated below:



Year
2018	102.875%
2019	101.917%
2020	100.958%
2021 and thereafter	100.000%

The Company has a $175.0 million line of credit (the “Line”). During fiscal year 2017, the Line was renewed and the maturity date was extended from June 2018 to September 2022. The Line provides the Company with various interest rate options based on the prime rate, the Federal Funds Rate, or the London Interbank Offering Rate. The Line allows the Company to issue up to $20.0 million in unused letters of credit, of which $9.5 million of unused letters of credit were issued at September 30, 2017. The Company is not required to maintain compensating balances in connection with the Line. At September 30, 2017, the Company had no borrowing outstanding under the Line.

On December 29, 2010, the Company completed the funding of $99.7 million of Recovery Zone Facility Bonds (the “Bonds”) for construction and equipping of an approximately 830,000 square foot new warehouse and distribution center to be located in Buncombe County, North Carolina (the “Project”). The final maturity date of the Bonds is January 1, 2036.

Under a Continuing Covenant and Collateral Agency Agreement (the “Covenant Agreement”) between certain financial institutions and the Company, the financial institutions would hold the Bonds until June 2021, subject to certain events. Mandatory redemption of the Bonds by the Company in the annual amount of $4.5 million began on January 1, 2014. The Company may redeem the Bonds without penalty or premium at any time prior to June 30, 2021.

Interest earned by bondholders on the Bonds is exempt from Federal and North Carolina income taxation. The interest rate on the Bonds is equal to one month LIBOR (adjusted monthly) plus a credit spread, adjusted to reflect the income tax exemption.

The Company’s obligation to repay the Bonds is collateralized by the Project. Additional collateral was required in order to meet certain loan to value criteria in the Covenant Agreement. The Covenant Agreement incorporates substantially all financial covenants included in the Line.

The Notes, the Bonds and the Line contain provisions that under certain circumstances would permit lending institutions to terminate or withdraw their respective extensions of credit to the Company. Included among the triggering factors permitting the termination or withdrawal of the Line to the Company are certain events of default, including both monetary and non-monetary defaults, the initiation of bankruptcy or insolvency proceedings, and the failure of the Company to meet certain financial covenants designated in its respective loan documents. The Company was in compliance with all financial covenants related to the Notes, the Bonds and Line at September 30, 2017.

The Company’s long-term debt agreements generally have cross-default provisions which could result in the acceleration of payments due under the Company’s line of credit, Bond and Notes indenture in the event of default under any one instrument.

At September 30, 2017, property and equipment with an undepreciated cost of approximately $229 million was pledged as collateral for long-term debt. Long-term debt and Line agreements contain various restrictive covenants requiring, among other things, minimum levels of net worth and maintenance of certain financial ratios. In addition, certain loan agreements containing provisions outlining minimum tangible net worth requirements restrict the ability of the Company to pay cash dividends in excess of the current annual per share dividends paid on the Company’s Class A and Class B Common Stock. Further, the Company is prevented from paying cash dividends at any time that it is in default under the indenture governing the Notes. In addition, the terms of the indenture may restrict the ability of the Company to pay additional cash dividends based on certain financial parameters.

Components of interest costs are as follows:



	2017		2016		2015
Total interest costs	$	48,675,895	$	47,807,738	$	47,378,270
Interest capitalized		(1,217,862)		(1,477,434)		(371,496)
Interest expense	$	47,458,033	$	46,330,304	$	47,006,774

Maturities of long-term debt at September 30, 2017 are as follows:



Fiscal Year
2018	$	13,479,419
2019		14,130,664
2020		14,286,665
2021		77,953,256
2022		10,095,277
Thereafter		755,146,168
Less unamortized prepaid loan costs		(7,221,134)
Total	$	877,870,315