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EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2012
EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS [Abstract]  
EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

14. EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

PENSION PLANS:

The Company has a noncontributory defined benefit pension plan covering all employees who work at least 1,000 hours per year. The participants shall have a vested interest in their accrued benefit after five full years of service. The benefits of the plan are based upon the employee's years of service and average annual earnings for the highest five consecutive calendar years during the final ten year period of employment. Effective January 1, 2013, the Company implemented a soft freeze of its defined benefit pension plan for non-union employees. A soft freeze means that all existing employees as of December 31, 2012 will remain in the defined benefit pension plan but any new non-union employees hired after January 1, 2013 will no longer be part of the defined benefit plan but instead will be offered retirement benefits under an enhanced 401K program. The Company executed this change to help reduce its rising pension costs in future years. Plan assets are primarily debt securities (including U.S. Treasury and Agency securities, corporate notes and bonds), listed common stocks (including shares of AmeriServ Financial, Inc. common stock valued at $626,000 and is limited to 10% of the plan's assets), mutual funds, and short-term cash equivalent instruments. The following actuarial tables are based upon data provided by an independent third party as of December 31, 2012.

PENSION BENEFITS:
     
  YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31,
  2012 2011
  (IN THOUSANDS)
CHANGE IN BENEFIT OBLIGATION:
    
Benefit obligation at beginning of year $ 25,709 $ 23,337
Service cost 1,593 1,335
Interest cost 1,234 1,198
Actuarial loss 2,882 1,385
Benefits paid (1,574) (1,546 )
Benefit obligation at end of year 29,844 25,709
CHANGE IN PLAN ASSETS:
    
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year 18,180 17,749
Actual return on plan assets 2,162 (123 )
Employer contributions 2,600 2,100
Benefits paid (1,574) (1,546 )
Fair value of plan assets at end of year 21,368 18,180
Funded status of the plan - under funded $ (8,476) $ (7,529 )
     
  YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31,
  2012 2011
  (IN THOUSANDS)
AMOUNTS NOT YET RECOGNIZED AS A COMPONENT OF NET PERIODIC PENSION COST:
    
Amounts recognized in accumulated other comprehensive loss consists of:
    
Transition asset $ (8) $ (25 )
Prior service cost (38) (58 )
Net actuarial loss 14,315 13,033
Total $ 14,269 $ 12,950
     
  YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31,
  2012 2011
  (IN THOUSANDS)
ACCUMULATED BENEFIT OBLIGATION:
    
Accumulated benefit obligation $ 26,662 $ 23,016

The weighted-average assumptions used to determine benefit obligations at December 31, 2012 and 2011 were as follows:

     
  YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31,
  2012 2011
  (PERCENTAGES)
WEIGHTED AVERAGE ASSUMPTIONS:
    
Discount rate 4.00% 4.75 %
Salary scale 2.50 2.50
       
  YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31,
  2012 2011 2010
  (IN THOUSANDS)
COMPONENTS OF NET PERIODIC BENEFIT COST:
      
Service cost $ 1,593 $ 1,335 $ 1,097
Interest cost 1,234 1,198 1,186
Expected return on plan assets (1,656) (1,582 ) (1,467 )
Amortization of prior year service cost (19) 7 15
Amortization of transition asset (17) (17 ) (17 )
Recognized net actuarial loss 1,094 800 706
Net periodic pension cost $ 2,229 $ 1,741 $ 1,520
       
  YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31,
  2012 2011 2010
  (IN THOUSANDS)
OTHER CHANGES IN PLAN ASSETS AND BENEFIT OBLIGATIONS RECOGNIZED IN OTHER COMPREHENSIVE INCOME (LOSS)
      
Net loss $ 2,376 $ 3,090 $ 1,895
Recognized loss (1,094) (800 ) (705 )
Recognized prior service cost 19 (7 ) (15 )
Recognized net initial asset 17 17 17
Total recognized in other comprehensive income (loss) before tax effect $ 1,318 $ 2,300 $ 1,192
Total recognized in net benefit cost and other comprehensive income (loss) before tax effect $ 3,547 $ 4,041 $ 2,712

The estimated net loss, prior service cost and transition asset for the defined benefit pension plan that will be amortized from accumulated other comprehensive loss into net periodic benefit cost over the next year are $1,363,000, $(20,000), and ($8,000), respectively.

The weighted-average assumptions used to determine net periodic benefit cost for the years ended December 31, 2012, 2011 and 2010 were as follows:

       
  YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31,
  2012 2011 2010
  (PERCENTAGES)
WEIGHTED AVERAGE ASSUMPTIONS:
      
Discount rate 4.75% 5.25 % 5.75 %
Expected return on plan assets 8.00 8.00 8.00
Rate of compensation increase 2.50 2.50 2.50

The Company has assumed an 8% long-term expected return on plan assets. This assumption was based upon the plan's historical investment performance over a longer-term period of 15 years combined with the plan's investment objective of balanced growth and income. Additionally, this assumption also incorporates a targeted range for equity securities of approximately 60% of plan assets.

PLAN ASSETS:

The plan's measurement date is December 31, 2012. This plan's asset allocations at December 31, 2012 and 2011, by asset category are as follows:

     
  2012 2011
  (PERCENTAGES)
ASSET CATEGORY:
    
Cash and cash equivalents -% - %
Domestic equities 22 19
Mutual funds/ETFs 63 71
International equities 2 -
Corporate bonds 13 10
Total 100% 100 %

The major categories of assets in the Company's Pension Plan as of year end are presented in the following table. Assets are segregated by the level of the valuation inputs within the fair value hierarchy established by ASC Topic 820 utilized to measure fair value.

     
  YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31,
  2012 2011
  (IN THOUSANDS)
Level 1:
    
Cash and cash equivalents $ - $ -
Domestic equities 4,731 3,402
International equities 336 -
Mutual funds/ETFs 13,566 12,918
Level 2:
    
Corporate bonds 2,735 1,860
Total fair value of plan assets $ 21,368 $ 18,180

Cash and cash equivalents may include uninvested cash balances along with money market mutual funds, treasury bills, or other assets normally categorized as cash equivalents. Domestic equities may include common or preferred stocks, covered options, rights or warrants, or ADRs which are traded on any U.S. equity market. Mutual funds/ETFs may include any equity, fixed income, balanced, international, or global mutual fund or exchange traded fund including any propriety fund managed by the Trust Company. Agencies may include any U.S. government agency security or asset-backed security. Collective investment funds may include equity, fixed income, or balanced collective investment funds managed by the Trust Company. Corporate bonds may include any corporate bond or note.

The investment strategy objective for the pension plan is a balance of growth and income. This objective seeks to develop a portfolio for acceptable levels of current income together with the opportunity for capital appreciation. The balanced growth and income objective reflects a relatively equal balance between equity and fixed income investments such as debt securities. The allocation between equity and fixed income assets may vary by a moderate degree but the plan typically targets a range of equity investments between 50% and 60% of the plan assets. This means that fixed income and cash investments typically approximate 40% to 50% of the plan assets. The plan is also able to invest in ASRV common stock up to a maximum level of 10% of the market value of the plan assets (at December 31, 2012, 2.9% of the plan assets were invested in ASRV common stock). This asset mix is intended to ensure that there is a steady stream of cash from maturing investments to fund benefit payments.

CASH FLOWS:

The Company presently expects that the contribution to be made to the Plan in 2013 will be approximately $2.5 million.

ESTIMATED FUTURE BENEFIT PAYMENTS:

The following benefit payments, which reflect future service, as appropriate, are expected to be paid.

   
YEAR: ESTIMATED FUTURE BENEFIT PAYMENTS
  (IN THOUSANDS)
2013 $ 2,243
2014 2,338
2015 2,142
2016 2,555
2017 2,709
Years 2018 - 2022 13,347
401(k) PLAN:

The Company maintains a qualified 401(k) plan that allows for participation by Company employees. Under the plan, employees may elect to make voluntary, pretax contributions to their accounts which the Company will match one half on the first 2% of contribution up to a maximum of 1%. The Company also contributes 4% of salaries for union members who are in the plan. Contributions by the Company charged to operations were $277,000 and $229,000 for the years ended December 31, 2012 and 2011, respectively. The fair value of plan assets includes $914,000 pertaining to the value of the Company's common stock and Trust Preferred securities that are held by the plan at December 31, 2012.

Except for the above benefit plans, the Company has no significant additional exposure for any other post-retirement or post-employment benefits.