Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2013

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Provision for income taxes

The provision for income taxes consisted of the following:

	For the years ended December 31,
(in thousands)	2013			2012			2011
Current:
Federal	$	319		$	770		$	(27,918	)
State and local	(3,102		)	365			1,185
Total	(2,783		)	1,135			(26,733		)
Tax benefits of compensation plans allocated to additional paid-in capital	—			7,553			6,946
Total current income tax provision	(2,783		)	8,688			(19,787		)
Deferred:
Federal	15,467			18,023			16,637
Other	1,334			1,943			3,110
Total	16,801			19,966			19,747
Deferred tax allocated to other comprehensive income (loss)	(21,866		)	(11,669		)	(9,961		)
Total deferred income tax provision	(5,065		)	8,297			9,786
(Benefit) provision for income taxes	$	(7,848	)	$	16,985		$	(10,001	)

Effective income tax rate reconciliation

The difference between the statutory rate for federal income tax and the effective income tax rate was as follows:

	For the years ended December 31,
	2013		2012		2011
Statutory rate	35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
Effect of:
State and local income taxes, net of federal income tax benefit	4.4		2.1		(1.8	)
Reserve for uncertain tax positions	35.7		(7.3	)	(1.9	)
Amended returns, settlements and other	16.5		—		7.6
Effective income tax rate	91.6	%	29.8	%	38.9	%

Schedule of deferred income tax (liabilities) assets

The approximate effect of the temporary differences giving rise to deferred income tax assets (liabilities) were as follows:

	As of December 31,
(in thousands)	2013			2012
Temporary differences:
Property, plant and equipment	$	(44,448	)	$	(46,016	)
Goodwill and other intangible assets	(2,684		)	1,605
Investments, primarily gains and losses not yet recognized for tax purposes	4,750			3,128
Accrued expenses not deductible until paid	11,865			16,213
Deferred compensation and retiree benefits not deductible until paid	37,041			61,703
Other temporary differences, net	25			244
Total temporary differences	6,549			36,877
Federal and state net operating loss carryforwards	21,123			6,984
Valuation allowance for state deferred tax assets	(1,078		)	(556		)
Net deferred tax asset	$	26,594		$	43,305

Gross unrecognized tax benefit reconciliation

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending balances of the total amounts of gross unrecognized tax benefits is as follows:

	For the years ended December 31,
(in thousands)	2013			2012			2011
Gross unrecognized tax benefits at beginning of year	$	16,386		$	21,240		$	20,010
Increases in tax positions for prior years	2,692			623			1,500
Decreases in tax positions for prior years	—			(1,287		)	(270		)
Decreases from lapse in statute of limitations	(2,670		)	(4,190		)	—
Settlements	(1,584		)	—			—
Gross unrecognized tax benefits at end of year	$	14,824		$	16,386		$	21,240