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Note 14 - Retirement Plans
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2019
Notes to Financial Statements  
Pension and Other Postretirement Benefits Disclosure [Text Block]
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4
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RETIREMENT PLANS
 
Multi-employer Defined Benefit Plan
 
Pension benefits for substantially all of the Company’s Alaska-based employees are provided through the Alaska Electrical Pension Fund (“AEPF”). The Company pays a contractual hourly amount based on employee classification or base compensation to the AEPF. As a multi-employer defined benefit plan, the accumulated benefits and plan assets are
not
determined for, or allocated separately to, the individual employer. This plan was
not
in endangered or critical status during the plan year.
 
Defined Benefit Plan
 
The Company has a separate defined benefit plan that covers certain employees previously employed by Century Telephone Enterprise, Inc. (“CenturyTel Plan”). This plan was transferred to the Company in connection with the acquisition of CenturyTel, Inc.’s Alaska properties, whereby assets and liabilities of the CenturyTel Plan were transferred to the ACS Retirement Plan on
September 1, 1999.
As of
March 31, 2019,
this plan is
not
fully funded under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of
1974,
as amended.
 
The following table presents the net periodic pension expense for the ACS Retirement Plan for the
three
-month periods ended
March 31, 2019
and
2018:
 
   
Three Months Ended
 
   
March 31,
 
   
2019
   
2018
 
Interest cost
  $
150
    $
141
 
Expected return on plan assets
   
(170
)    
(198
)
Amortization of loss
   
141
     
148
 
Net periodic pension expense
  $
121
    $
91
 
 
Net periodic pension expense is included in the line item “Other income (expense), net” in the Statements of Comprehensive Income.