EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2018

Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits Disclosure [Text Block]

17. 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 $1.2 million 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, 2018.

PENSION BENEFITS:

	YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31,
	2018			2017
	(IN THOUSANDS)
CHANGE IN BENEFIT OBLIGATION:
Benefit obligation at beginning of year	$	41,013		$	38,637
Service cost		1,482			1,516
Interest cost		1,273			1,292
Actuarial (gain) loss		823			1,588
Special/contractual termination benefits		63			—
Benefits paid		(3,560	)		(2,020	)
Benefit obligation at end of year		41,094			41,013
CHANGE IN PLAN ASSETS:
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year		37,100			30,671
Actual return on plan assets		(1,062	)		4,949
Employer contributions		6,000			3,500
Benefits paid		(3,560	)		(2,020	)
Fair value of plan assets at end of year		38,478			37,100
Funded status of the plan	$	(2,616	)	$	(3,913	)

	YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31,
	2018		2017
	(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	$	18,461	$	15,326
Total	$	18,461	$	15,326

	YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31,
	2018		2017
	(IN THOUSANDS)
ACCUMULATED BENEFIT OBLIGATION:
Accumulated benefit obligation	$	37,695	$	37,594

The weighted-average assumptions used to determine benefit obligations at December 31, 2018 and 2017 were as follows:

	YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31,
	2018			2017
WEIGHTED AVERAGE ASSUMPTIONS:
Discount rate		4.28	%		3.63	%
Salary scale		2.50			2.50

	YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31,
	2018			2017			2016
	(IN THOUSANDS)
COMPONENTS OF NET PERIODIC BENEFIT COST:
Service cost	$	1,482		$	1,516		$	1,468
Interest cost		1,273			1,292			1,430
Expected return on plan assets		(2,798	)		(2,539	)		(2,275	)
Special termination benefit liability		63			—			—
Recognized net actuarial loss		1,548			1,454			1,333
Net periodic pension cost	$	1,568		$	1,723		$	1,956

	YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31,
	2018			2017			2016
	(IN THOUSANDS)
OTHER CHANGES IN PLAN ASSETS AND BENEFIT OBLIGATIONS RECOGNIZED IN OTHER COMPREHENSIVE LOSS:
Net (gain) loss	$	4,683		$	(822	)	$	6,505
Recognized loss		(1,548	)		(1,454	)		(1,333	)
Total recognized in other comprehensive loss before tax effect	$	3,135		$	(2,276	)	$	5,172
Total recognized in net benefit cost and other comprehensive loss before tax effect	$	4,703		$	(553	)	$	7,128

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 $1,610,000.

The weighted-average assumptions used to determine net periodic benefit cost for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016 were as follows:

	YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31,
	2018			2017			2016
WEIGHTED AVERAGE ASSUMPTIONS:
Discount rate		3.63	%		4.12	%		4.20	%
Expected return on plan assets		7.50			7.75			7.75
Rate of compensation increase		2.50			2.50			2.50

The Company has assumed a 7.50% 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, 2018. This plan’s asset allocations at December 31, 2018 and 2017, by asset category are as follows:

	YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31,
	2018			2017
ASSET CATEGORY:
Cash and cash equivalents		49	%		—	%
Domestic equities		7			12
Mutual funds/ETFs		42			82
International equities		—			4
Corporate bonds		2			2
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,
	2018		2017
	(IN THOUSANDS)
Level 1:
Cash and cash equivalents	$	18,939	$	44
Domestic equities		2,841		4,340
Mutual funds/ETFs		15,808		30,470
International equities		—		1,322
Level 2:
Corporate bonds		890		924
Total fair value of plan assets	$	38,478	$	37,100

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, 2018, 3.1% 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 2019 will be approximately $2.0 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)
2019	$	2,974
2020		3,362
2021		3,100
2022		3,661
2023		3,357
Years 2024 – 2028		15,340

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 $503,000, $469,000 and $447,000 for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively. The fair value of plan assets includes $1.2 million pertaining to the value of the Company’s common stock and Trust Preferred securities that are held by the plan at December 31, 2018.

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