Retirement Plans

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2019

Our principal defined benefit pension plan is the TEGNA Retirement Plan (TRP). The disclosure table below includes the pension expenses of the TRP and the TEGNA Supplemental Retirement Plan (SERP). The total net pension obligations, including both current and non-current liabilities, as of June 30, 2019, were $139.7 million, of which $7.9 million is recorded as a current obligation within accrued liabilities on the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet.

Pension costs, which primarily include costs for the qualified TRP and the non-qualified SERP, are presented in the following table (in thousands):



	Quarter ended June 30,						Six months ended June 30,
	2019			2018			2019			2018

Service cost-benefits earned during the period	$	—		$	6		$	—		$	6
Interest cost on benefit obligation	5,773			5,074			11,523			10,224
Expected return on plan assets	(6,585		)	(7,480		)	(13,160		)	(14,930		)
Amortization of prior service cost	20			34			45			84
Amortization of actuarial loss	1,541			1,293			3,041			2,543
Pension payment timing related charge	686			—			686			6,300
Expense for company-sponsored retirement plans	$	1,435		$	(1,073	)	$	2,135		$	4,227

Our TRP and SERP are frozen plans, and as such we no longer incur the service cost component of pension expense. All other components of our pension expense presented above are included within the Other non-operating items, net line item of the Consolidated Statements of Income.

During the six months ended June 30, 2019 and 2018 we made cash contributions of $0.9 million and $6.4 million to the TRP and benefit payments to participants of the SERP of $5.0 million and $28.8 million respectively. Based on actuarial projections, we expect to make additional cash payments of $6.0 million in 2019 on account of these benefit plans (comprised of payments of $3.0 million each to the TRP and SERP participants).

We incurred pension payment timing related charges of $0.7 million and $6.3 million in the first six months of 2019 and 2018, respectively, as a result of lump sum SERP payments made to certain former employees. These charges were reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive loss into net periodic benefit cost.