Employee Post-Retirement Benefits

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2012

Employee Post-Retirement Benefits [Abstract]

Employee Post-Retirement Benefits

Note 10.  Employee Post-Retirement Benefits

HickoryTech provides post-retirement health care and life insurance benefits for eligible employees. We are currently not funding these post-retirement benefits, but have accrued these liabilities. We are required to recognize the funded status of our post-retirement benefit plans on our consolidated balance sheet and recognize as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax, the gains and losses and prior service costs or credit that arise during the period but are not recognized as components of net periodic benefit cost. New employees are not eligible for post-retirement health care and life insurance benefits.

	Three Months Ended September 30						Nine Months Ended September 30
(Dollars in thousands)	2012			2011			2012			2011
Components of net periodic benefit cost
Service cost	$	150		$	127		$	450		$	381
Interest cost		188			200			564			600
Expected return on plan assets		-			-			-			-
Amortization of transition obligation		15			15			45			45
Amortization of prior service cost		(19	)		(14	)		(57	)		(42	)
Recognized net actuarial loss		135			107			405			321
Net periodic benefit cost	$	469		$	435		$	1,407		$	1,305
Employer's contributions for current premiums:										September 30, 2012
Contributions made for the nine months ended September 30, 2012										$	258
Expected contributions for remainder of 2012											110
Total estimated employer contributions for fiscal year 2012										$	368