Note 10 – Employees’ Benefit Plans

 

The Bancorp maintains an Employees’ Savings and Profit Sharing Plan and Trust for all employees who meet the plan qualifications. Employees are eligible to participate in the Employees’ Savings and Profit Sharing Plan and Trust on the next January 1 or July 1 following the completion of one year of employment, attaining age 18, and completion of 1,000 hours of service. The Employees’ Savings Plan feature allows employees to make pre-tax contributions to the Employees’ Savings Plan of 1% to 50% of Plan Salary, subject to limitations imposed by Internal Revenue Code section 401(k). The Profit Sharing Plan and Trust feature is non-contributory on the part of the employee. Contributions to the Employees’ Profit Sharing Plan and Trust are made at the discretion of the Bancorp’s Board of Directors. Contributions for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014 were based on 8% of the participants’ total compensation, excluding incentives. Profit sharing contributions made by the Bank and earnings credited to the employee’s account vest on the following schedule: two years of service, 40% of contributions and earnings; three years of service, 60% of contributions and earnings; four years of service, 80% of contributions and earnings; and five years of service, 100% of contributions and earnings. Participants also become 100% vested in the employer contributions and accrued earnings in their account upon their death, approved disability, or attainment of age 65 while employed at the Bank. The benefit plan expense amounted to approximately $705 thousand for 2015 and $599 thousand for 2014.

 

The Bancorp maintains an Unqualified Deferred Compensation Plan (the “Plan”). The purpose of the Plan is to provide deferred compensation to key senior management employees of the Bancorp in order to recognize their substantial contributions to the Bank and provide them with additional financial security as inducement to remain with the Bank. The Compensation Committee selects which persons shall be participants in the Plan. Participants’ accounts are credited each year with an amount based on a formula involving the participant’s employer funded contributions under all qualified plans and the limitations imposed by Internal Revenue Code subsection 401(a)(17) and Code section 415. The unqualified deferred compensation plan liability at December

31, 2015 and 2014 was approximately $188 thousand and $171 thousand, respectively. The Plan expense amounted to approximately $17 thousand for 2015 and $15 thousand for 2014.

 

Directors have deferred some of their fees in consideration of future payments. Fee deferrals, including interest, totaled approximately $97 thousand and $106 thousand for 2015 and 2014, respectively. The deferred fee liability at December 31, 2015 and 2014 was approximately $1.34 million and $1.30 million, respectively.

 

As part of the acquisition of Liberty Savings Bank, the Bancorp assumed a liability of $1.5 million in the Pentegra Defined Benefit Plan for Financial institutions (“The Pentegra DB Plan”), a multi-employer plan. The Pentegra DB Plan is a tax-qualified defined benefit plan that was originally created for full-time Liberty Savings Bank employees who had completed one year of service and had attained the age of 21. The plan was amended whereas any new employees after December 31, 2008 were not eligible to participate in the plan. The Pentegra DB Plan’s Employer Identification Number is 13-5645888 and the Plan Number is 333. There are no collective bargaining agreements in place that require contribution to the Pentegra DB Plan. Benefits are based on years of service and completion prior to retirement. Annually, Pentegra determines the contributions required to be made by each participating company and these contributions are expensed during the year they relate to. The plan was frozen on April 1, 2011.

 

The Pentegra DB Plan is a single plan under Internal Revenue Code Section 413(c) and, as a result, all of the assets stand behind all of the liabilities. Accordingly, under the Pentegra DB Plan contributions made by a participating employer may be used to provide benefits to participants of other participating employers. The Pentegra DB Plan is operated on a June 30 fiscal year-end and is reported as such to participants in the plan. As a result, the funded status of the Pentegra DB Plan is reported as of the following dates.

 

The funded status as of July 1, 2015 and 2014 are as follows:

 

2015				2014
	91.47	%			94.17	%

 

Total contributions made to the Pentegra DB Plan as reported on the Form 5500, equal $190.8 million and $136.5 million for the plan years ending June 30, 2014 and 2013. The Bancorp’s contributions to the Pentegra DB Plan are not more than 5% of the total contributions to the Pentegra DB Plan.