10. Notes Payable

Notes payable as of December 31, 2018 and 2017 consisted of the following (in thousands):

	December 31, 2018			December 31, 2017
Credit Agreement average effective interest rate of 4.1% inclusive of unused fee	$	38,000		$	54,000
Various notes payable with $1,434 plus accrued interest due in the next year, interest accrues in the range of 3.25% through 5.0% per annum		1,836			6,772
		39,836			60,772
Less current portion		(1,434	)		(4,044	)
Long term portion	$	38,402		$	56,728

Effective December 5, 2013, the Company entered into an Amended and Restated Credit Agreement with a commitment for a $125.0 million revolving credit facility. This agreement was amended in August 2015, January 2016, March 2017 and November 2017 (hereafter referred to as “Amended Credit Agreement”). The Amended Credit Agreement is unsecured and has loan covenants, including requirements that the Company comply with a consolidated fixed charge coverage ratio and consolidated leverage ratio. Proceeds from the Amended Credit Agreement may be used for working capital, acquisitions, purchases of the Company’s common stock, dividend payments to the Company’s common stockholders, capital expenditures and other corporate purposes. The pricing grid which is based on the Company’s consolidated leverage ratio with the applicable spread over LIBOR ranging from 1.25% to 2.0% or the applicable spread over the Base Rate ranging from 0.1% to 1%. Fees under the Amended Credit Agreement include an unused commitment fee ranging from 0.25% to 0.3% depending on the Company’s consolidated leverage ratio and the amount of funds outstanding under the Amended Credit Agreement.

The January 2016 amendment to the Amended Credit Agreement increased the cash and noncash consideration that the Company could pay with respect to acquisitions permitted under the Amended Credit Agreement to $50,000,000 for any fiscal year, and increased the amount the Company may pay in cash dividends to its shareholders in an aggregate amount not to exceed $10,000,000 in any fiscal year. The March 2017 amendment, among other items, increased the amount the Company may pay in cash dividends to its shareholders in an aggregate amount not to exceed $15,000,000 in any fiscal year. The November 2017 amendment, among other items, adjusted the pricing grid as described above, increased the aggregate amount the Company may pay in cash dividends to its shareholders to an amount not to exceed $20,000,000 and extended the maturity date to November 30, 2021.

On December 31, 2018, $38.0 million was outstanding on the Credit Agreement resulting in $87.0 million of availability. As of December 31, 2018, the Company was in compliance with all of the covenants thereunder.

The Company generally enters into various notes payable as a means of financing a portion of its acquisitions and purchasing of non-controlling interests. In conjunction with the transactions related to these in 2018, the Company entered into notes payable in the aggregate amount of $1.0 million of which an aggregate principal payment of $0.6 million which is due in 2019 and $0.4 million in 2020. Interest accrues in the range of 4.5% to 5.00% per annum and is payable with each principal installment.

Gain on derecognition of debt was $1.8 million for the year 2018, as a liability relating to some former physical therapy partners is no longer deemed payable. The debt derecognition transaction resulted in after-tax positive impacts on net income of $1.4 million and on per share earnings of $0.11.

Aggregate annual payments of principal required pursuant to the Credit Agreement and the various notes payable subsequent to December 31, 2018 are as follows (in thousands):

During the twelve months ended December 31, 2019	$	1,434
During the twelve months ended December 31, 2020		402
During the twelve months ended December 31, 2021		38,000
During the twelve months ended December 31, 2022		-
	$	39,836