Note 12 - Employee Benefit Plans

12 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2025

Notes to Financial Statements

Retirement Benefits [Text Block]

12. EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

The Company sponsors both a noncontributory pension plan and a postretirement plan. The pension plan covers all employees hired prior to January 2017 and benefits fully vest after 5 years of credited service. Benefits paid to retirees are based on age at retirement, years of service and average compensation. Effective January 1, 2017, a "soft freeze" to the pension plan was implemented, and employees hired on or after that date are no longer eligible to participate. Commensurate with the "soft freeze" in the pension plan, the Company amended its 401(k) Plan, allowing management to authorize a discretionary contribution to the 401(k) account for those employees hired on or after January 1, 2017. The amount, if any, of this discretionary contribution would be determined each year and would be applied to the eligible employees in the following calendar year. This Company contribution would be in addition to any employee elected deferrals and employer match as provided for under the 401(k) Plan.

The postretirement plan provides certain health care, supplemental retirement and life insurance benefits to retired employees who meet specific age and service requirements. Employees hired prior to January 1, 2000 are eligible to participate in the postretirement plan. Employees must have a minimum of 10 years of service and retire after attaining the age of 55 in order to vest in the postretirement plan. Retiree contributions to the plan are based on the number of years of service to the Company as determined under the pension plan.

Employers who sponsor defined benefit plans must recognize the funded status of defined benefit pension and other postretirement plans as an asset or liability in their statements of financial position and recognize changes in that funded status in the year in which the changes occur through comprehensive income. For pension plans, the benefit obligation is the projected benefit obligation, and for other postretirement plans, the benefit obligation is the accumulated benefit obligation. The Company established a regulatory asset for the portion of the obligation expected to be recovered through rates in future periods. The regulatory asset is adjusted for the recognition of actuarial gains and losses. The portion of the obligation attributable to the unregulated operations of the holding company is recognized in other comprehensive income, with actuarial gains and losses recognized using the corridor method.

The following table sets forth the benefit obligation, fair value of plan assets, the funded status of the plans, and amounts recognized in the Company’s consolidated financial statements:

	Pension Plan						Postretirement Plan
	2025			2024			2025			2024
Accumulated benefit obligation	$	26,298,490		$	26,859,162		$	10,462,318		$	10,842,455
Change in benefit obligation:
Benefit obligation at beginning of year	$	29,873,428		$	26,747,624		$	10,842,455		$	11,248,448
Service cost		387,429			324,265			4,376			30,398
Interest cost		1,410,406			1,468,822			507,423			613,477
Actuarial loss (gain)		(752,215	)		2,613,621			(297,327	)		(540,914	)
Benefit payments, net of retiree contributions		(1,439,028	)		(1,280,904	)		(594,609	)		(508,954	)
Benefit obligation at end of year	$	29,480,020		$	29,873,428		$	10,462,318		$	10,842,455
Change in fair value of plan assets:
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year	$	31,054,138		$	26,878,661		$	15,078,281		$	13,019,313
Actual return on plan assets, net of taxes		872,291			5,456,381			907,150			2,567,922
Employer contributions		—			—			—			—
Benefit payments, net of retiree contributions		(1,439,028	)		(1,280,904	)		(594,609	)		(508,954	)
Fair value of plan assets at end of year	$	30,487,401		$	31,054,138		$	15,390,822		$	15,078,281
Funded status	$	1,007,381		$	1,180,710		$	4,928,504		$	4,235,826
Amounts recognized in the consolidated balance sheet consist of:
Benefit plan assets under other non-current assets	$	1,007,381		$	1,180,710		$	4,928,504		$	4,235,826
Amounts recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income:
Net actuarial loss (gain), net of tax	$	923,823		$	432,149		$	(520,987	)	$	(227,071	)
Total amounts included in accumulated other comprehensive income, net of tax	$	923,823		$	432,149		$	(520,987	)	$	(227,071	)
Amounts deferred to a regulatory asset (liability):
Net actuarial loss (gain)	$	2,199,542		$	3,041,666		$	(3,879,294	)	$	(4,032,929	)
Amounts recognized as regulatory assets (liabilities)	$	2,199,542		$	3,041,666		$	(3,879,294	)	$	(4,032,929	)

The Company expects that approximately $31,000, before tax, of AOCI will be recognized in net periodic benefit costs in fiscal 2026 and approximately $31,000 of amounts deferred as regulatory assets and approximately $158,000 of amounts deferred as regulatory liabilities will be amortized and recognized in net periodic benefit costs in fiscal 2026.

The following table details the actuarial assumptions used in determining the projected benefit obligations and net benefit cost of the pension plan and the accumulated benefit obligations and net benefit cost of the postretirement plan:

	Pension Plan						Postretirement Plan
	2025			2024			2025			2024
Assumptions used to determine benefit obligations:
Discount rate		5.29	%		4.83	%		5.16	%		4.83	%
Expected rate of compensation increase		4.00	%		4.00	%		N/A			N/A
Assumptions used to determine benefit costs:
Discount rate		4.83	%		5.63	%		4.83	%		5.63	%
Expected long-term rate of return on plan assets		4.95	%		4.50	%		4.95	%		4.21	%
Expected rate of compensation increase		4.00	%		4.00	%		N/A			N/A

To develop the expected long-term rate of return on plan assets assumption, the Company, with input from the Plans' actuaries and investment advisors, considered the historical returns and the future expectations for returns for each asset class, as well as the target asset allocation of each plan’s portfolio.

Components of net periodic benefit cost are as follows:

	Pension Plan						Postretirement Plan
	2025			2024			2025			2024
Service cost	$	387,429		$	324,265		$	4,376		$	30,398
Interest cost		1,410,406			1,468,822			507,423			613,477
Expected return on plan assets		(1,503,902	)		(1,179,830	)		(729,708	)		(533,249	)
Recognized loss (gain)		59,423			316,522			(232,611	)		(40,597	)
Net periodic benefit cost (income)	$	353,356		$	929,779		$	(450,520	)	$	70,029

Service cost is included in operations and maintenance expense in the consolidated statements of income. All other components of net periodic benefit costs are included in other income, net in the consolidated statements of income.

The assumed health care cost trend rates used in measuring the accumulated benefit obligation for the postretirement plan are presented below:

	Pre 65						Post 65
	2025			2024			2025			2024
Health care cost trend rate assumed for next year		7.00	%		7.00	%		5.60	%		5.60	%
Rate to which the cost trend is assumed to decline (the ultimate trend rate)		4.00	%		4.00	%		4.00	%		4.00	%
Year that the rate reaches the ultimate trend rate	2075			2075			2075			2075

The health care cost trend rate assumptions could have a significant effect on the amounts reported. A change of 1% would have the following effects: 

	1% Increase		1% Decrease
Effect on total service and interest cost components	$	58,000	$	(50,000	)
Effect on accumulated postretirement benefit obligation		1,113,000		(955,000	)

The primary objectives of both plans' investment policies are to maintain investment portfolios that diversify risk through prudent asset allocation parameters, achieve asset returns that meet or exceed the corresponding actuarial assumptions and will provide for future benefits. The Company's pension plan allocation approach seeks to match the duration of the fixed income portion of the portfolio with the duration of the plan's liabilities. Such allocation is designed to reduce the overall volatility in the pension plan relative to the funded status. The equity allocations in both plans provide for potential returns to offset growth in the corresponding liabilities.

Based on its most recent evaluation of returns for the asset classes within each plan's investment portfolio, the Company set the expected long-term rate of return for both the pension plan and the postretirement plan for fiscal 2026 at 5.75%.

The Company’s ultimate target and actual asset allocation in the pension and postretirement plans as of September 30, 2025 and 2024 were: 

	Pension Plan									Postretirement Plan
	Target			2025			2024			Target			2025			2024
Asset category:
Equity securities		25	%		23	%		25	%		30	%		38	%		48	%
Debt securities		75	%		77	%		75	%		70	%		53	%		36	%
Cash		—	%		—	%		—	%		—	%		9	%		16	%

The Company uses the fair value hierarchy described in Note 1 to classify these assets. The mutual funds are included under Level 1 in the fair value hierarchy as their fair values are based on quoted net asset values of the shares held in the investments in the plans.  The bond funds and certain other investments are included under Level 2 as these investments have observable Level 2 pricing inputs, including quoted prices for similar assets in active or non-active markets. While the underlying asset values are quoted prices, the net asset value of a unit in these funds is not publicly quoted.  The following tables contain the fair value classifications of the plans' assets:

			Pension Plan
			Fair Value Measurements - September 30, 2025
	Fair Value		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3
Asset Class:
Cash	$	27,603	$	27,603	$	—	$	—
Common and Collective Trust and Pooled Funds:
Bond Funds		19,460,378		—		19,460,378		—
Mutual Funds:
Domestic Fixed Income		3,901,202		3,901,202		—		—
Equities
Domestic Large Cap Growth		2,161,688		2,161,688		—		—
Domestic Large Cap Value		2,470,055		2,470,055		—		—
Domestic Small/Mid Cap Core		1,023,627		1,023,627		—		—
Foreign Large Cap Growth		442,847		442,847		—		—
Foreign Large Cap Value		469,821		469,821		—		—
Foreign Large Cap Core		530,180		530,180		—		—
Total	$	30,487,401	$	11,027,023	$	19,460,378	$	—

			Pension Plan
			Fair Value Measurements - September 30, 2024
	Fair Value		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3
Asset Class:
Cash	$	142,921	$	142,921	$	—	$	—
Common and Collective Trust and Pooled Funds:
Bond Funds		19,505,237		—		19,505,237		—
Mutual Funds:
Domestic Fixed Income		3,791,697		3,791,697		—		—
Equities
Domestic Large Cap Growth		2,073,092		2,073,092		—		—
Domestic Large Cap Value		2,469,045		2,469,045		—		—
Domestic Small/Mid Cap Core		1,297,579		1,297,579		—		—
Foreign Large Cap Growth		498,732		498,732		—		—
Foreign Large Cap Value		482,222		482,222		—		—
Foreign Large Cap Core		793,613		793,613		—		—
Total	$	31,054,138	$	11,548,901	$	19,505,237	$	—

			Postretirement Plan
			Fair Value Measurements - September 30, 2025
	Fair Value		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3
Asset Class:
Cash	$	1,462,600	$	1,462,600	$	—	$	—
Mutual Funds:
Bonds
Domestic Fixed Income		8,089,514		8,089,514		—		—
Equities
Domestic Large Cap Growth		1,340,584		1,340,584		—		—
Domestic Large Cap Value		2,799,537		2,799,537		—		—
Domestic Small/Mid Cap Core		453,828		453,828		—		—
Foreign Large Cap Growth		217,707		217,707		—		—
Foreign Large Cap Core		1,027,052		1,027,052		—		—
Total	$	15,390,822	$	15,390,822	$	—	$	—

			Postretirement Plan
			Fair Value Measurements - September 30, 2024
	Fair Value		Level 1		Level 2		Level 3
Asset Class:
Cash	$	2,381,909	$	2,381,909	$	—	$	—
Mutual Funds:
Bonds
Domestic Fixed Income		5,457,976		5,457,976		—		—
Equities
Domestic Large Cap Growth		2,412,824		2,412,824		—		—
Domestic Large Cap Value		1,996,262		1,996,262		—		—
Domestic Small/Mid Cap Core		738,393		738,393		—		—
Foreign Large Cap Growth		532,391		532,391		—		—
Foreign Large Cap Value		652,023		652,023		—		—
Foreign Large Cap Core		906,503		906,503		—		—
Total	$	15,078,281	$	15,078,281	$	—	$	—

Each mutual fund or common collective trust fund has been categorized based on its primary investment strategy.

Annual funding contributions to the pension plan and postretirement plan are made under advisement from the Company's actuaries and investment advisor based upon ERISA funding requirements. For the years ended September 30, 2025 and 2024, no contributions were made to the pension plan or postretirement plan.  At this time, the Company does not anticipate making any funding contributions to the pension plan or postretirement plan in fiscal 2026.

The following table reflects expected future benefit payments:

	Pension		Postretirement
Fiscal year ending September 30	Plan		Plan
2026	$	1,463,000	$	728,140
2027		1,560,000		753,633
2028		1,630,000		747,643
2029		1,701,000		773,121
2030		1,780,000		760,210
2031 - 2035		9,733,000		3,794,802

The NQDC Plan is an unfunded, nonqualified benefit plan offered to select members of senior management not eligible to participate in the pension plan.  The NQDC Plan also contains a long-term retention element for certain members of senior management.  Under the NQDC Plan, participants have the right to defer a percentage of base salary as well as receive discretionary credits from the Company. The Company's discretionary credits vest over time.  Any benefits distributed from the NQDC Plan are paid from the general assets of the Company.  As the plan is unfunded, the balance reflected in the table below is a noncurrent liability included in benefit plan liabilities on the consolidated balance sheet. 

	2025		2024
Beginning deferred compensation balance	$	113,600	$	47,674
Employer contributions		80,510		52,400
Earnings		7,084		13,526
Ending deferred compensation balance	$	201,194	$	113,600

The Company sponsors a 401(k) Plan covering all eligible employees who elect to participate. Employees may contribute from 1% to 50% of their annual compensation to the 401(k) Plan, either on a pre-tax or post-tax basis, limited to a maximum annual amount as set periodically by the IRS. The Company matches 100% of the participant’s first 4% of contributions and 50% of the next 2% of contributions. The 401(k) Plan also provides for discretionary contributions for employees hired on or after January 1, 2017. The following table reflects the Company's contributions:

	Years Ended September 30
	2025		2024
Matching contribution	$	466,630	$	427,022
Discretionary contribution		137,114		112,207