Note 10 - Deferred Compensation Plan

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2017

Notes to Financial Statements

Compensation and Employee Benefit Plans [Text Block]

10

. DEFERRED COMPENSATION PLAN

The Company has a non-qualified, unfunded deferred compensation plan,

 which provides certain key employees, including executive management, with the ability to defer the receipt of compensation in order to accumulate funds for retirement on a tax deferred basis. The Company does

not

make contributions to the plan or guarantee returns on the investments. The Company is responsible for the plan’s administrative expenses. Participants’ deferrals and investment gains and losses remain as the Company’s liabilities and the underlying assets are subject to claims of general creditors.

The liabilities for compensation deferred under the plan are recorded at fair value in each reporting period. Changes in the fair value of the liabilities are included in operating expense in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations. The Company manages the risk of changes in the fair value of the liabilities by electing to match the liabilities with investments in corporate-owned life insurance policies and mutual funds that offset a substantial portion of the exposure. The investments are recorded at the cash surrender value of the corporate-owned life insurance policies and at the fair value of the mutual funds, which are classified as trading securities. Changes in the cash surrender value of the corporate-owned life insurance policies and the fair value of mutual fund investments are included in interest and other income, net in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations.

  The following table summarizes the deferred compensation plan balances in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (in thousands):

	September 30,		December 31,
	2017		2016
Deferred compensation plan asset components:
Cash surrender value of corporate-owned life insurance policies	$	11,218	$	8,180
Fair value of mutual funds		13,097		12,108
Total	$	24,315	$	20,288
Deferred compensation plan assets reported in:
Other long-term assets	$	24,315	$	20,288
Deferred compensation plan liabilities reported in:
Accrued compensation and related benefits (short-term)	$	341	$	479
Other long-term liabilities		24,146		19,836
Total	$	24,487	$	20,315