INCOME TAXES (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2025

INCOME TAXES [Abstract]

Components of Income Before Income Taxes

The components of income before income taxes were as follows:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2025		2024		2023
Domestic	$	26,118	$	14,711	$	35,639
Foreign		0.00		0.00		0.00
Income before income taxes	$	26,118	$	14,711	$	35,639

Components of the Provision for Income Taxes

Components of the provision for income taxes were as follows:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2025			2024			2023
Current:
Federal	$	285		$	4,496		$	5,825
State		3,212			2,566			2,185
Foreign		-			-			-
Total		3,497			7,062			8,010
Deferred:
Federal		3,957			(1,555	)		989
State		(1,334	)		(687	)		643
Foreign		-			-			-
Total		2,623			(2,242	)		1,632
Total provision	$	6,120		$	4,820		$	9,642

Reconciliation of Effective Income Tax Rate and Federal Statutory Tax Rate

The following is a reconciliation of the difference between the effective income tax rate and the federal statutory tax rate for the year ended December 31, 2025:

	Year Ended December 31,
	2025
		$ amount (in thousands)		%
Tax provision at the U.S. federal statutory rate	$	5,485		21.0	%
State and local income tax, net of federal income tax effect (1)		1,465		5.6	%
Foreign tax effects		-		-
Enactment of new tax laws		-		-
Cross-border tax laws		-		-
Tax credits		-		-
Changes in valuation allowance		-		-
Nontaxable and nondeductible
Share-based compensation		(516	)	(2	)%
Other		450		1.7	%
Unrecognized tax benefits		-		-
Other
Other adjustments		(37	)	(0.1	)%
Pension withdrawal		(727	)	(3.0	)%
Income tax expense and effective income tax rate	$	6,120		23.4	%

⁽¹⁾ The state that contributed to the majority (greater than 50%) of the tax effect in this category was New Jersey

The reconciliation of the effective tax rate to the U.S. Statutory Federal Income tax rate was:

	2024				2023
Income before taxes	$	14,711			$	35,639
Expected tax	$	3,089	21.0	%	$	7,484		21.0	%
State tax (net of federal benefit)		1,483	10.1	%		2,234		6.3	%
Other		248	1.7	%		(76	)	(0.2	)%
Total	$	4,820	32.8	%	$	9,642		27.1	%

Components of Non-current Deferred Tax Assets (Liabilities)

The components of the non-current deferred tax assets (liabilities) were as follows:

	At December 31,
	2025			2024
Gross noncurrent deferred tax assets (liabilities)
Operating lease liability	$	46,313		$	40,209
Provision for credit losses		18,881			17,558
Finance lease liability		8,352			7,835
Net operating loss carryforwards		1,913			807
Stock-based compensation		1,198			843
Accrued expenses		28			26
Other intangibles		21			23
Pension plan liabilities		-			(416	)
Goodwill		(605	)		(603	)
Depreciation and amortization		(6,309	)		3,142
Finance lease right of use assets		(6,730	)		(7,161	)
Operating lease right-of-use assets		(41,394	)		(36,904	)
Noncurrent deferred tax assets, net	$	21,668		$	25,359

Supplemental Cash Flow Information Related to Income Taxes Paid (Net of Refunds Received)

The following table presents supplemental cash flow information related to income taxes paid (net of refunds received):

	Year ended December 31, 2025
Cash paid during the period for income taxes, net of refunds:
US federal	$	3,500
US state and local
New Jersey		862
Connecticut		362
Other		1,445
US state and local		2,669
Foreign		-
Total cash paid during the period for income taxes, net of refunds received	$	6,169