INCOME TAXES (Dollars In Thousands)

The provision for income taxes is summarized below:



Current Tax Expense:	2019			2018			2017
Federal	$	7,706		$	7,668		$	11,142
State	1,550			1,450			917
Total Current Tax Expense	9,256			9,118			12,059
Deferred Tax Expense (Benefit):
Federal	427			(40		)	(1,453		)
State	(83		)	(52		)	(77		)
Total Deferred Tax Expense (Benefit)	344			(92		)	(1,530		)

Total Provision for Income Taxes	$	9,600		$	9,026		$	10,529

The provisions for income taxes differed from the amounts computed by applying the U.S. Federal Income Tax Rate, 21% for 2019 and 2018 and 35% for 2017, to pre-tax income as a result of the following:



	2019		2018		2017
Statutory Federal Tax Rate	21.0	%	21.0	%	35.0	%
Increase (Decrease) Resulting From:
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act impact on deferred remeasurement	—		—		(2.8	)
Tax-Exempt Income	(2.7	)	(3.1	)	(6.4	)
Nondeductible Interest Expense	0.2		0.1		0.1
State Taxes, Net of Federal Income Tax Benefit	2.3		2.4		1.8
Tax benefit from stock based compensation	(0.3	)	(0.4	)	(0.3	)
Other Items, Net	(0.1	)	(0.1	)	(1.0	)
Effective Tax Rate	20.4	%	19.9	%	26.4	%

The Tax Act reduced the U.S. statutory tax rate from 35% to 21%, among other changes.

The tax effects of temporary differences that give rise to significant portions of the deferred tax assets and deferred tax liabilities at December 31, 2019 and 2018 are presented below:



	2019		2018
Deferred Tax Assets:
Allowance for Loan Losses	$	5,383	$	5,131
Lease liabilities	2,787		—
Pension and Deferred Compensation Plans	2,923		2,764
Pension Liability Included in Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income	2,329		3,450
Other	352		342
Net Unrealized Losses on Securities Available-for-Sale Included in Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income	—		1,259
Total Gross Deferred Tax Assets	13,774		12,946
Valuation Allowance for Deferred Tax Assets	—		—
Total Gross Deferred Tax Assets, Net of Valuation Allowance	$	13,774	$	12,946
Deferred Tax Liabilities:
Pension Plans	$	5,270	$	5,502
Depreciation	1,943		1,149
ROU assets	2,748		—
Deferred Income	3,215		3,003
Net Unrealized Gains on Equity Securities	240		166
Net Unrealized Gains on Securities Available-for-Sale Included in Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income	160		—
Goodwill	3,502		3,546
Total Gross Deferred Tax Liabilities	$	17,078	$	13,366

Deferred Tax Liability, Net	$	3,304	$	420

Management believes that the realization of the recognized gross deferred tax assets at December 31, 2019 and 2018 is more likely than not, based on historic earnings and expectations as to future taxable income.

Interest and penalties are recorded as a component of the provision for income taxes, if any. There are no current examinations of our Federal or state income tax returns, nor have we been notified of any up-coming examinations. Tax years 2016 through 2019 are subject to Federal and New York State examination. Management annually conducts an analysis of its tax positions and has concluded that it has no uncertain tax positions as of December 31, 2019.