Employee Benefit Plans

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2020

Compensation And Retirement Disclosure [Abstract]

Employee Benefit Plans

Note 7    Employee Benefit Plans

Historically, the Company maintained a non-contributory defined benefit pension plan that covered substantially all U.S. employees who were employed at December 31, 2011. After that date, no further benefits were accrued in the plan. For the frozen pension plan, benefits were based primarily on years of service and, for certain employees, levels of compensation.  In 2018, the Company completed the termination of the non-contributory defined benefit pension plan.  

The Company maintains supplemental non-qualified plans for certain officers and other key employees, and an Employee Savings and Stock Option Plan (“ESSOP”) for the majority of the U.S. employees.

The Company also has a postretirement healthcare benefit plan that provides medical benefits for certain U.S. retirees and eligible dependents hired prior to November 1, 2004.  Employees are eligible to receive postretirement healthcare benefits upon meeting certain age and service requirements.  No employees hired after October 31, 2004 are eligible to receive these benefits.  This plan requires employee contributions to offset benefit costs.

Amounts included in accumulated other comprehensive income, net of tax, at December 31, 2020 that have not yet been recognized in net periodic benefit cost are as follows:

	Pension plans		Other postretirement benefits
	(In thousands)
Net actuarial loss (gain)	$	68	$	(123	)

Amounts included in accumulated other comprehensive income, net of tax, at December 31, 2020 expected to be recognized in net periodic benefit cost during the fiscal year ending December 31, 2021 are not expected to be material.

Qualified Pension Plan  

The Company completed the termination of the non-contributory defined benefit pension plan in 2018 and therefore the tables below show no activity or actuarial assumptions for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019.

The following table sets forth the components of net periodic pension cost for the year ended December 31, 2018 based on a December 31 measurement date:

	2018
	(In thousands)
Service cost - benefits earned during the year	$	—
Interest cost on projected benefit obligations		305
Expected return on plan assets		(835	)
Amortization of net loss		262
Settlement expense		19,900
Net periodic pension cost	$	19,632

Actuarial assumptions used in the determination of the net periodic pension cost are:

	2018
Discount rate		2.00	%
Expected long-term return on plan assets		3.00	%
Rate of compensation increase	n/a

The Company's discount rate assumptions for the qualified pension plan are based on the average yield of a hypothetical high quality bond portfolio with maturities that approximately match the estimated cash flow needs of the plan.  The assumptions for expected long-term rates of return on assets are based on historical experience and estimated future investment returns, taking into consideration anticipated asset allocations, investment strategies and the views of various investment professionals.  The use of these assumptions can cause volatility if actual results differ from expected results.

The fair value of the qualified pension plan assets was $0 at December 31, 2020 and 2019. As there were no benefit obligations, plan assets or pension liabilities at December 31, 2020, 2019 & 2018, no reconciliation as of those measurement dates are provided.

Supplemental Non-qualified Unfunded Plans

The Company also maintains supplemental non-qualified unfunded plans for certain officers and other key employees.  The expense for these plans was not material for 2020, 2019 or 2018.  The discount rate used to measure the net periodic pension cost was 2.87% for 2020, 2.86% for 2019 and 2.16% for 2018. The amount accrued was $0.4 million and $0.5 million as of December 31, 2020 and 2019, respectively.  

Other Postretirement Benefits

The Company has a postretirement plan that provides medical benefits for certain U.S. retirees and eligible dependents hired prior to November 1, 2004.  The following table sets forth the components of net periodic postretirement benefit cost for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018:

	2020			2019			2018
	(In thousands)
Service cost, benefits attributed for service of active    employees for the period	$	103		$	103		$	124
Interest cost on the accumulated postretirement benefit obligation		154			210			189
Amortization of actuarial gain		(22	)		(117	)		(30	)
Amortization of prior service credit		—			—			(13	)
Net periodic postretirement benefit cost	$	235		$	196		$	270

The discount rate used to measure the net periodic postretirement benefit cost was 3.19% for 2020, 4.33% for 2019 and 3.65% for 2018.  It is the Company's policy to fund healthcare benefits on a cash basis.  Because the plan is unfunded, there are no plan assets.  The following table provides a reconciliation of the projected benefit obligation at the Company's December 31 measurement date:

	2020			2019
	(In thousands)
Benefit obligation at beginning of year	$	6,075		$	5,551
Service cost		103			103
Interest cost		154			210
Actuarial gain		202			657
Plan participants' contributions		474			532
Benefits paid		(863	)		(978	)
Benefit obligation and funded status at end of year	$	6,145		$	6,075

The amounts recognized in the Consolidated Balance Sheets at December 31 are:

	2020		2019
	(In thousands)
Accrued compensation and employee benefits	$	356	$	364
Accrued non-pension postretirement benefits		5,789		5,711
Amounts recognized at December 31	$	6,145	$	6,075

The discount rate used to measure the accumulated postretirement benefit obligation was 2.45% for 2020 and 3.19% for 2019.  The Company's discount rate assumptions for its postretirement benefit plan are based on the average yield of a hypothetical high quality bond portfolio with maturities that approximately match the estimated cash flow needs of the plan.  Because the plan requires the Company to establish fixed Company contribution amounts for retiree healthcare benefits, future healthcare cost trends do not generally impact the Company's accruals or provisions.

Estimated future benefit payments of postretirement benefits, assuming increased cost sharing, expected to be paid in each of the next five years beginning with 2021 are $0.4 million through 2025, with an aggregate of $2.0 million for the five years thereafter.  These amounts can vary significantly from year to year because the cost sharing estimates can vary from actual expenses as the Company is self-insured.

Badger Meter Employee Savings and Stock Ownership Plan (ESSOP)

The ESSOP includes a voluntary 401(k) savings plan that allows certain employees to defer up to 20% of their income on a pretax basis subject to limits on maximum amounts.  The Company matches 25% of each employee’s contribution, with the match percentage applying to a maximum of 7% of each employee's salary.  The match was paid using the Company's Common Stock released through the ESSOP loan payments.  For ESSOP shares purchased prior to 1993, compensation expense is recognized based on the original purchase price of the shares released and dividends on unreleased shares are charged to compensation expense.  For shares purchased in or after 1993, expense is based on the market value of the shares on the date released and dividends on unreleased shares are charged to compensation expense.  Compensation expense of $ 0.5 million in 2020 compared to $0.6 million in 2019 and $0.5 million in 2018. As the last ESSOP loan payment was made during 2020, the Company will make future ESSOP match payments in cash.

On December 31, 2010, the Company froze the qualified pension plan for its non-union participants and formed a new defined contribution feature within the ESSOP plan in which each employee received a similar benefit.  On December 31, 2011, the Company froze the qualified pension plan for its union participants and included them in the same defined contribution feature within the ESSOP.  Compensation expense under the defined contribution feature was $2.0 million in 2020 $3.1 million in 2019 and $3.0 in 2018.