14. INCOME TAXES

Income tax expense for the three months ended March 31, 2017 and 2016 was as follows:


	Three Months Ended March 31,
	2017		2016

	(Dollars in thousands)

Income tax expense for the period	$	$ 3,942	$	$ 1,057
Effective Tax Rate		35.3%		36.5%

The effective tax rates differ from the statutory federal tax rate of 35% largely due to tax exempt interest income earned on certain investment securities and loans and the nontaxable earnings on bank owned life insurance.

Net deferred tax assets totaled $13.3 million at March 31, 2017 and $11.3 million at December 31, 2016. No valuation allowance was recorded against deferred tax assets as of those dates, as management believes it is more likely than not that all of the deferred tax assets will be realized because they were supported by recoverable taxes paid in prior years.