Fair Value Measurements

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2015

Recurring Fair Value Measurements:

Assets and liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of December 31, 2015 and 2014, aggregated by the level in the fair value hierarchy in which those measurements fall, are as follows (in thousands):



	Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets and Liabilities (Level 1)		Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)		Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)		Fair Value at December 31, 2015
			Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)		Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)		Fair Value at December 31, 2015
Assets:
Investments, mutual funds held in a grantor trust	$	20,579					$	20,579
Investments, mutual funds	7,043						7,043
Derivative instruments:
Interest rate contracts			$	2,664			2,664
Total	$	27,622	$	2,664	$	—	$	30,286
Liabilities:
Derivative instruments:
Interest rate contracts			$	725			$	725
Deferred compensation plan obligations	$	20,579					20,579
Total	$	20,579	$	725	$	—	$	21,304



	Quoted Prices in Active Markets for Identical Assets and Liabilities (Level 1)		Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)		Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)		Fair Value at December 31, 2014
			Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)		Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)		Fair Value at December 31, 2014
Assets:
Investments, mutual funds held in a grantor trust	$	19,864					$	19,864
Investments, mutual funds	7,446						7,446
Derivative instruments:
Interest rate contracts			$	3,891			3,891
Total	$	27,310	$	3,891	$	—	$	31,201
Liabilities:
Derivative instruments:
Interest rate contracts			$	109			$	109
Deferred compensation plan obligations	$	19,864					19,864
Total	$	19,864	$	109	$	—	$	19,973

Fair Value Disclosures:

Unless otherwise listed below, short-term financial instruments and receivables are carried at amounts which approximate their fair values based on their highly-liquid nature, short-term maturities and/or expected interest rates for similar instruments.

Schedule of our fair value disclosures is as follows (in thousands):



	December 31,
	2015						2014
	Carrying Value		Fair Value Using Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)		Fair Value Using Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)		Carrying Value		Fair Value Using Significant Other Observable Inputs (Level 2)		Fair Value Using Significant Unobservable Inputs (Level 3)
Tax increment revenue bonds ⁽¹⁾	$	25,162			$	25,162	$	25,392			$	25,392
Investments, held to maturity ⁽²⁾	1,750		$	1,750			2,750		$	2,742
Debt:
Fixed-rate debt ⁽³⁾	1,869,683				1,907,579		1,643,780				1,719,775
Variable-rate debt	243,594				248,460		286,229				292,972

___________________


(1)	At December 31, 2015 and 2014, the credit loss balance on our tax increment revenue bonds was $31.0 million.


(2)	Investments held to maturity are recorded at cost. As of December 31, 2015, no unrealized gain or loss was recognized, and as of December 31, 2014, these investments had a gross unrealized loss of $8 thousand.


(3)	Effective December 31, 2015, ASU No. 2015-03, "Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs" was adopted. Reclassification of prior year's carrying value amounts was made to conform to the current year presentation. See Note 2 for additional information.

The quantitative information about the significant unobservable inputs used for our Level 3 fair value measurements as of December 31, 2015 and 2014 reported in the above tables, is as follows:



Description	Fair Value at December 31,					Unobservable Inputs	Range
	Fair Value at December 31,						Range
	2015		2014				Minimum				Maximum
	(in thousands)				Valuation Technique		2015		2014		2015		2014
Tax increment revenue bonds	$	25,162	$	25,392	Discounted cash flows	Discount rate	6.5	%	NA		7.5	%	7.5	%
						Expected future growth rate	1.0	%	1.0	%	2.0	%	2.0	%
						Expected future inflation rate	1.0	%	1.0	%	3.0	%	2.0	%
Fixed-rate debt	1,907,579		1,719,775		Discounted cash flows	Discount rate	2.4	%	1.3	%	5.5	%	5.1	%
Variable-rate debt	248,460		292,972		Discounted cash flows	Discount rate	1.3	%	1.2	%	3.2	%	2.9	%

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the fair value of financial instruments (as defined), including financial assets and financial liabilities (collectively, as defined), and the measurements of those instruments as well as disclosures related to the fair value of non-financial assets and liabilities. Such disclosures about the financial instruments, assets, and liabilities would include: (1) the fair value of the required items together with their carrying amounts (as appropriate); (2) for items for which it is not practicable to estimate fair value, disclosure would include: (a) information pertinent to estimating fair value (including, carrying amount, effective interest rate, and maturity, and (b) the reasons why it is not practicable to estimate fair value; (3) significant concentrations of credit risk including: (a) information about the activity, region, or economic characteristics identifying a concentration, (b) the maximum amount of loss the entity is exposed to based on the gross fair value of the related item, (c) policy for requiring collateral or other security and information as to accessing such collateral or security, and (d) the nature and brief description of such collateral or security; (4) quantitative information about market risks and how such risks are managed; (5) for items measured on both a recurring and nonrecurring basis information regarding the inputs used to develop the fair value measurement; and (6) for items presented in the financial statement for which fair value measurement is elected: (a) information necessary to understand the reasons for the election, (b) discussion of the effect of fair value changes on earnings, (c) a description of [similar groups] items for which the election is made and the relation thereof to the balance sheet, the aggregate carrying value of items included in the balance sheet that are not eligible for the election; (7) all other required (as defined) and desired information.

+ References + Details