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 implemented a similar soft freeze of its defined benefit pension plan for union employees effective January 1, 2014. The Company executed these changes to help reduce its 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 the Company’s common stock valued at $770,000 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, 2016.

PENSION BENEFITS:


	YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31,
	2016			2015
	(IN THOUSANDS)
CHANGE IN BENEFIT OBLIGATION:
Benefit obligation at beginning of year	$	33,117		$	33,701
Service cost		1,468			1,557
Interest cost		1,430			1,341
Actuarial (gain) loss		4,578			(1,063	)
Benefits paid		(1,956	)		(2,419	)
Benefit obligation at end of year		38,637			33,117


	YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31,
	2016			2015
	(IN THOUSANDS)
CHANGE IN PLAN ASSETS:
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year		28,429			27,367
Actual return on plan assets		348			(154	)
Employer contributions		3,850			3,635
Benefits paid		(1,956	)		(2,419	)
Fair value of plan assets at end of year		30,671			28,429
Funded status of the plan – under funded	$	(7,966	)	$	(4,688	)


	YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31,
	2016		2015
	(IN THOUSANDS)
AMOUNTS NOT YET RECOGNIZED AS A COMPONENT OF NET PERIODIC PENSION COST:
Amounts recognized in accumulated other comprehensive loss consists of:
Net actuarial loss	$	17,602	$	12,431
Total	$	17,602	$	12,431


	YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31,
	2016		2015
	(IN THOUSANDS)
ACCUMULATED BENEFIT OBLIGATION:
Accumulated benefit obligation	$	35,153	$	30,606

The weighted-average assumptions used to determine benefit obligations at December 31, 2016 and 2015 were as follows:


	YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31,
	2016			2015
WEIGHTED AVERAGE ASSUMPTIONS:
Discount rate		4.12	%		4.20	%
Salary scale		2.50			2.50


	YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31,
	2016			2015			2014
	(IN THOUSANDS)
COMPONENTS OF NET PERIODIC BENEFIT COST:
Service cost	$	1,468		$	1,557		$	1,601
Interest cost		1,430			1,341			1,368
Expected return on plan assets		(2,275	)		(2,130	)		(1,991	)
Amortization of prior year service cost		—			—			(19	)
Special termination benefit liability		—			—			376
Recognized net actuarial loss		1,333			1,386			1,181
Net periodic pension cost	$	1,956		$	2,154		$	2,516


	YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31,
	2016			2015			2014
	(IN THOUSANDS)
OTHER CHANGES IN PLAN ASSETS AND BENEFIT OBLIGATIONS RECOGNIZED IN OTHER COMPREHENSIVE LOSS
Net loss	$	6,505		$	1,221		$	3,669
Recognized loss		(1,333	)		(1,386	)		(1,181	)
Recognized prior service cost		—			—			19
Total recognized in other comprehensive loss before tax effect	$	5,172		$	(165	)	$	2,507
Total recognized in net benefit cost and other comprehensive loss before tax effect	$	7,128		$	1,989		$	5,023

The estimated net loss for the defined benefit pension plan that will be amortized from accumulated other comprehensive loss into net periodic benefit cost over the next year is $1,583,000.

The weighted-average assumptions used to determine net periodic benefit cost for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015 and 2014 were as follows:


	YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31,
	2016			2015			2014
WEIGHTED AVERAGE ASSUMPTIONS:
Discount rate		4.20	%		4.00	%		4.50	%
Expected return on plan assets		7.75			8.00			8.00
Rate of compensation increase		2.50			2.50			2.50

The Company has assumed a 7.75% 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, 2016. This plan’s asset allocations at December 31, 2016 and 2015, by asset category are as follows:


	YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31,
	2016			2015
ASSET CATEGORY:
Cash and cash equivalents		8	%		6	%
Domestic equities		10			7
Mutual funds/ETFs		76			75
International equities		1			1
Corporate bonds		5			11
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,
	2016		2015
	(IN THOUSANDS)
Level 1:
Cash and cash equivalents	$	2,454	$	1,611
Domestic equities		3,067		1,978
International equities		307		397
Mutual funds/ETFs		23,310		21,396
Level 2:
Corporate bonds		1,533		3,047
Total fair value of plan assets	$	30,671	$	28,429

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 American Depository Receipts 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, 2016, 2.5% 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 2017 will be approximately $3.0 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)
2017	$	3,174
2018		2,364
2019		2,393
2020		2,740
2021		2,787
Years 2022 – 2026		14,199

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. Effective January 1, 2013, any new non-union employees receive a 4% non-elective contribution and these employees may elect to make voluntary, pretax contributions to their accounts which the Company will match one half on the first 6% of contribution up to a maximum of 3%. Effective January 1, 2014, any new union employees receive a 4% non-elective contribution and these employees may elect to make voluntary, pretax contributions to their accounts which the Company will match dollar for dollar up to a maximum of 4%. Contributions by the Company charged to operations were $447,000 and $433,000 for the years ended December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively. The fair value of plan assets includes $1.3 million pertaining to the value of the Company’s common stock and Trust Preferred securities that are held by the plan at December 31, 2016.

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