Employee Benefit Plans

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2011

Employee Benefit Plans [Abstract]

Employee Benefit Plans

9. Employee Benefit Plans

Employee benefits charged to operating expenses are summarized in the table below. Substantially all of the Company's employees are covered by a defined contribution (401K) plan, under which the Company makes matching contributions.

(In thousands)	2011		2010		2009
Payroll taxes	$	20,703	$	20,226	$	20,587
Medical plans	16,350		18,248		20,164
401K plan	11,728		11,448		9,771
Pension plans	994		1,815		3,023
Other	2,232		2,138		1,945
Total employee benefits	$	52,007	$	53,875	$	55,490

A large portion of the Company's current employees are covered by a noncontributory defined benefit pension plan, however, participation in the pension plan is not available to employees hired after June 30, 2003. All participants are fully vested in their benefit payable upon normal retirement date, which is based on years of participation and compensation. Certain key executives also participate in a supplemental executive retirement plan (the CERP) that the Company funds only as retirement benefits are disbursed. The CERP carries no segregated assets.

Effective January 1, 2005, substantially all benefits accrued under the pension plan were frozen. With this change, certain annual salary credits to pension accounts were discontinued, however, the accounts continue to accrue interest at a stated annual rate. Enhancements were then made to the 401K plan, which have increased employer contributions to the 401K plan. Enhancements were also made to the CERP, providing credits based on hypothetical contributions in excess of those permitted under the 401K plan. Effective January 1, 2011, all remaining benefits accrued under the pension plan were frozen.

Under the Company's funding policy for the defined benefit pension plan, contributions are made to a trust as necessary to satisfy the statutory minimum required contribution as defined by the Pension Protection Act, which is intended to provide for current service accruals and for any unfunded accrued actuarial liabilities over a reasonable period. To the extent that these requirements are fully covered by assets in the trust, a contribution might not be made in a particular year. The Company made no contributions to the defined benefit pension plan in 2011 and the minimum required contribution for 2012 is expected to be zero. The Company does not expect to make any further contributions other than the necessary funding contributions to the CERP. Contributions to the CERP were $18 thousand, $10 thousand and $10 thousand during fiscal 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively.

Benefit obligations of the CERP at the December 31, 2011 and 2010 valuation dates are shown in the table immediately below. In all other tables presented, the pension plan and the CERP are presented on a combined basis.

(In thousands)	2011		2010
Projected benefit obligation	$	3,263	$	2,829
Accumulated benefit obligation	$	3,263	$	2,829

The following items are components of the net pension cost for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009.

(In thousands)	2011			2010			2009
Service cost-benefits earned during the year	$	406		$	716		$	683
Interest cost on projected benefit obligation	5,366			5,505			5,473
Expected return on plan assets	(6,727		)	(6,614		)	(6,123		)
Amortization of unrecognized net loss	1,949			2,208			2,990
Net periodic pension cost	$	994		$	1,815		$	3,023

The following table sets forth the pension plans' funded status, using valuation dates of December 31, 2011 and 2010.

(In thousands)	2011			2010
Change in projected benefit obligation
Projected benefit obligation at prior valuation date	$	103,857		$	98,148
Service cost	406			716
Interest cost	5,366			5,505
Benefits paid	(4,766		)	(4,768		)
Actuarial (gain) loss	5,323			4,256
Projected benefit obligation at valuation date	110,186			103,857
Change in plan assets
Fair value of plan assets at prior valuation date	98,824			93,498
Actual return (loss) on plan assets	3,152			10,084
Employer contributions	18			10
Benefits paid	(4,766		)	(4,768		)
Fair value of plan assets at valuation date	97,228			98,824
Funded status and net amount recognized at valuation date	$	(12,958	)	$	(5,033	)

The accumulated benefit obligation, which represents the liability of a plan using only benefits as of the measurement date, was $110.2 million and $103.9 million for the combined plans on December 31, 2011 and 2010, respectively.

Amounts not yet reflected in net periodic benefit cost and included in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) at December 31, 2011 and 2010 are shown below, including amounts recognized in other comprehensive income during the periods. All amounts are shown on a pre-tax basis.

(In thousands)	2011			2010
Prior service credit (cost)	$	—		$	—
Accumulated loss	(34,355		)	(27,406		)
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	(34,355		)	(27,406		)
Cumulative employer contributions in excess of net periodic benefit cost	21,397			22,373
Net amount recognized as an accrued benefit liability on the December 31 balance sheet	$	(12,958	)	$	(5,033	)
Net gain (loss) arising during period	$	(8,898	)	$	(786	)
Amortization of net loss	1,949			2,208
Total recognized in other comprehensive income	$	(6,949	)	$	1,422
Total expense recognized in net periodic pension cost and other comprehensive income	$	(7,943	)	$	(393	)

The estimated net loss to be amortized from accumulated other comprehensive income into net periodic pension cost in 2012 is $2.9 million.

The following assumptions, on a weighted average basis, were used in accounting for the plans.

	2011		2010		2009
Determination of benefit obligation at year end:
Discount rate	4.80	%	5.40	%	5.75	%
Assumed credit on cash balance accounts	5.00	%	5.00	%	5.00	%
Determination of net periodic benefit cost for year ended:
Discount rate	5.40	%	5.75	%	6.00	%
Long-term rate of return on assets	7.00	%	7.25	%	7.25	%
Assumed credit on cash balance accounts	5.00	%	5.00	%	5.00	%

The following table shows the fair values of the Company's pension plan assets by asset category at December 31, 2011 and 2010. Information about the valuation techniques and inputs used to measure fair value are provided in Note 15 on Fair Value Measurements.

			Fair Value Measurements
(In thousands)	Total Fair Value		Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets (Level 1)		Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)		Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)
December 31, 2011
Assets:
Cash	$	164	$	164	$	—	$	—
U.S. government obligations	4,863		4,863		—		—
Government-sponsored enterprise obligations (a)	9,749		—		9,749		—
State and municipal obligations	5,005		—		5,005		—
Agency mortgage-backed securities (b)	4,480		—		4,480
Non-agency mortgage-backed securities	6,908		—		6,908		—
Asset-backed securities	8,085		—		8,085		—
Corporate bonds (c)	22,700		—		22,700		—
International bonds	3,169		—		3,169		—
Equity securities and mutual funds: (d)
U.S. large-cap	13,928		13,928		—		—
U.S. mid-cap	8,250		8,250		—		—
U.S. small-cap	3,348		3,348		—		—
International developed markets	1,184		1,184		—		—
Emerging markets	1,569		1,569		—		—
Money market funds	3,826		3,826		—		—
Total	$	97,228	$	37,132	$	60,096	$	—
December 31, 2010
Assets:
Cash	$	22	$	22	$	—	$	—
U.S. government obligations	3,964		3,964		—		—
Government-sponsored enterprise obligations (a)	9,771		—		9,771		—
State and municipal obligations	3,644		—		3,644		—
Agency mortgage-backed securities (b)	5,848		—		5,848
Non-agency mortgage-backed securities	7,802		—		7,802		—
Asset-backed securities	6,060		—		6,060		—
Corporate bonds (c)	19,676		—		19,676		—
International bonds	2,274		—		2,274		—
Equity securities and mutual funds: (d)
U.S. large-cap	17,806		17,806		—		—
U.S. mid-cap	8,849		8,849		—		—
U.S. small-cap	3,344		3,344		—		—
International developed markets	1,951		1,951		—		—
Emerging markets	2,771		2,771		—		—
Money market funds	5,042		5,042		—		—
Total	$	98,824	$	43,749	$	55,075	$	—

(a) This category represents bonds (excluding mortgage-backed securities) issued by agencies such as the Federal Home Loan Bank, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp and the Federal National Mortgage Association.

(b) This category represents mortgage-backed securities issued by the agencies mentioned in (a).

(c) This category represents investment grade bonds of U.S. issuers from diverse industries.

(d) This category represents investments in individual common stocks and equity funds. The majority of these investments are in equity mutual funds, which have diversified investment holdings as of December 31, 2011 across the financial services, industrial materials, technology, consumer goods, healthcare, and energy sectors.

The investment policy of the pension plan is designed for growth in value within limits designed to safeguard against significant losses within the portfolio. The policy sets guidelines regarding the types of investments held that may change from time to time, currently including items such as holding bonds rated investment grade or better, and prohibiting investment in Company stock. The plan does not utilize derivatives. Management believes there are no significant concentrations of risk within the plan asset portfolio at December 31, 2011. Under the current policy, the long-term investment target mix for the plan is 35% equity securities and 65% fixed income securities. The Company regularly reviews its policies on investment mix and may make changes depending on economic conditions and perceived investment risk.

The discount rate selected at December 31, 2011 and 2010 was based on matching the Company's estimated plan cash flows to a yield curve derived from a portfolio of corporate bonds rated AA by Moody's. This method is more specific to the Company's plan compared to the method used to select the rate in 2009 and previous years, which was based on a review of various published bond indices.

The assumed overall expected long-term rate of return on pension plan assets used in calculating 2011 pension plan expense was 7.00%. Determination of the plan's expected rate of return is based upon historical and anticipated returns of the asset classes invested in by the pension plan and the allocation strategy currently in place among those classes. The rate used in plan calculations may be adjusted by management for current trends in the economic environment. The average 10-year annualized return for the Company's pension plan was 6.1%. During 2011, the plan's rate of return was 3.8%, compared to 11.0% in 2010. Because a portion of the plan's investments are equity securities, the actual return for any one plan year is affected by changes in the stock market. Due to higher anticipated amortization of investment losses and the effect of a lower discount rate in 2012, the Company expects to incur pension expense of $1.9 million in 2012, compared to $994 thousand in 2011.

The following future benefit payments are expected to be paid:

(In thousands)
2012	$	6,018
2013	6,278
2014	6,529
2015	6,753
2016	6,968
2017-2021	36,019