Leases

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

As a lessee, the Company enters into leases of buildings and our real estate leases primarily relate to bank branches and office space from nonaffiliated parties with remaining lease terms ranging from 1 to 10 years years as of December 31, 2023. Certain lease arrangements contain extension option which are typically around 5 years. As these extension options are not generally considered reasonably certain of exercise, they are not included in the lease term.

As of December 31, 2023 and 2022, operating right-of-use (“ROU”) assets were $8.5 million and $9.1 million, respectively, and related liabilities were $9.3 million and $10.2 million, respectively. Short-term operating leases, which are defined as leases with term of twelve months or less, were not recognized as ROU assets with related lease liabilities as permitted under ASU No. 2016-02. The lease payments on short-term operating leases are immaterial. The Company did not have any finance leases as of December 31, 2023 and 2022.

Operating lease ROU assets represent the Company’s right to use the underlying asset during the lease term and operating lease liabilities represent the Company’s obligation to make lease payments arising from the lease. ROU assets and operating lease liabilities are recognized at lease commencement based on the present value of the remaining lease payments using the Company’s incremental borrowing rate at the lease commencement date. Operating lease expense, which is comprised of amortization of the ROU asset and the implicit interest accreted on the operating lease liability, is recognized on a straight-line basis over the lease term and is recorded in occupancy expense in the consolidated statements of income. The Company’s occupancy expense also includes variable lease costs which is comprised of the Company's share of actual costs for utilities, common area maintenance, property taxes, and insurance that are not included in lease liabilities and are expensed as incurred. Variable lease costs can also include rent escalations based on changes to indices, such as the Consumer Price Index, where the Company estimates future rent increases and records the actual difference to variable costs.

The table below summarizes total lease cost for the periods indicated:



	Year Ended December 31,
($ in thousands)	2023		2022
Operating lease cost	$	2,280	$	2,046
Variable lease cost	844		859
Total lease cost	$	3,124	$	2,905

The tables below summarize other information related to the Company’s operating leases as of the associated period:



	Year Ended December 31,
($ in thousands)	2023			2022
Operating right-of-use assets	$	8,497		$	9,097
Operating lease liabilities	9,341			10,213
Weighted average remaining lease term - operating leases	5.5 years			6.3 years
Weighted average discount rate - operating leases	2.47		%	2.44		%
Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of lease liabilities:
Operating cash flows from operating leases	$	2,511		$	2,253

Rent expense was $3.1 million, $2.9 million and $2.6 million for the years ended December 31, 2023 and 2022 and 2021, respectively.

The table below summarizes the remaining contractually obligated lease payments and a reconciliation to the lease liability reported on the Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2023:



($ in thousands)
2024	$	2,586
2025	1,724
2026	2,085
2027	2,007
2028	1,598
Thereafter	1,925
Total lease payments	11,925
Discount to present value	(2,584)
Total lease liability	$	9,341