Employee Benefit Plans

12 Months Ended

Sep. 26, 2020

Compensation And Retirement Disclosure [Abstract]

Employee Benefit Plans

12. Employee Benefit Plans

Defined Contribution Plan.  The Partnership has an employee Retirement Savings and Investment Plan (the “401(k) Plan”) covering most employees.  Employer matching contributions relating to the 401(k) Plan represent a match of $0.50 on up to 6% of eligible compensation contributed with the opportunity to earn an additional performance-based matching contribution if certain annual fiscal performance targets are achieved.  These contribution costs were $3,934, $3,782 and $3,575 for fiscal 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Defined Pension and Retiree Health and Life Benefits Arrangements

Pension Benefits.  The Partnership has a noncontributory defined benefit pension plan which was originally designed to cover all eligible employees of the Partnership who met certain requirements as to age and length of service.  Effective January 1, 1998, the

Partnership amended its defined benefit pension plan to provide benefits under a cash balance formula as compared to a final average pay formula which was in effect prior to January 1, 1998.  Effective January 1, 2000, participation in the defined benefit pension plan was limited to eligible existing participants on that date with no new participants eligible to participate in the plan.  On September 20, 2002, the Board of Supervisors approved an amendment to the defined benefit pension plan whereby, effective January 1, 2003, future service credits ceased and eligible employees receive interest credits only toward their ultimate retirement benefit.  

Contributions, as needed, are made to a trust maintained by the Partnership.  Contributions to the defined benefit pension plan are made by the Partnership in accordance with the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 minimum funding standards plus additional amounts made at the discretion of the Partnership, which may be determined from time to time.  Contributions of $3,835, $5,350 and $4,764 were made by the Partnership in fiscal 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively. In fiscal 2010, the Internal Revenue Service completed its review of the Partnership’s defined benefit pension plan and issued a favorable determination letter pertaining to the cash balance formula.  However, there can be no assurances that future legislative developments will not have an adverse effect on the Partnership’s results of operations or cash flows.

Retiree Health and Life Benefits.  The Partnership provides postretirement health care and life insurance benefits for certain retired employees.  Partnership employees hired prior to July 1993 and who retired prior to March 1998 are eligible for postretirement health care benefits if they reached a specified retirement age while working for the Partnership.  Partnership employees hired prior to July 1993 and who retired prior to January 1998 are eligible for life insurance benefits if they reached a specified retirement age while working for the Partnership.  Effective January 1, 2017, the Partnership terminated postretirement life insurance benefits to all retirees that retired after December 31, 1997.  Effective March 31, 1998, the Partnership froze participation in its postretirement health care benefit plan, with no new retirees eligible to participate in the plan.  All active employees who were eligible to receive health care benefits under the postretirement plan subsequent to March 1, 1998, were provided an increase to their accumulated benefits under the cash balance pension plan.  The Partnership’s postretirement health care and life insurance benefit plans are unfunded.  Effective January 1, 2006, the Partnership changed its postretirement health care plan from a self-insured program to one that is fully insured under which the Partnership pays a portion of the insurance premium on behalf of the eligible participants.  

The Partnership recognizes the funded status of pension and other postretirement benefit plans as an asset or liability on the balance sheet and recognizes changes in the funded status in other comprehensive income (loss) in the year the changes occur.  The Partnership uses the date of its consolidated financial statements as the measurement date of plan assets and obligations.

Projected Benefit Obligation, Fair Value of Plan Assets and Funded Status. The following tables provide a reconciliation of the changes in the benefit obligations and the fair value of the plan assets for fiscal 2020 and 2019 and a statement of the funded status for both years.  Under the Partnership’s cash balance defined benefit pension plan, the accumulated benefit obligation and the projected benefit obligation are the same.

	Pension Benefits						Retiree Health and Life Benefits
	2020			2019			2020			2019
Reconciliation of benefit obligations:
Benefit obligation at beginning of year	$	115,471		$	111,701		$	6,929		$	7,895
Interest cost		2,726			3,943			151			275
Actuarial loss (gain)		7,005			10,429			(246	)		(296	)
Lump sum benefits paid		(3,623	)		(3,869	)		—			—
Ordinary benefits paid		(6,347	)		(6,733	)		(835	)		(945	)
Benefit obligation at end of year	$	115,232		$	115,471		$	5,999		$	6,929
Reconciliation of fair value of plan assets:
Fair value of plan assets at beginning of year	$	80,913		$	78,032		$	—		$	—
Actual gain (loss) return on plan assets		5,223			8,133			—			—
Employer contributions		3,835			5,350			835			945
Lump sum benefits paid		(3,623	)		(3,869	)		—			—
Ordinary benefits paid		(6,347	)		(6,733	)		(835	)		(945	)
Fair value of plan assets at end of year	$	80,001		$	80,913		$	—		$	—
Funded status:
Funded status at end of year	$	(35,231	)	$	(34,558	)	$	(5,999	)	$	(6,929	)
Amounts recognized in consolidated balance sheets    consist of:
Net amount recognized at end of year	$	(35,231	)	$	(34,558	)	$	(5,999	)	$	(6,929	)
Less: current portion		—			—			843			970
Noncurrent benefit liability	$	(35,231	)	$	(34,558	)	$	(5,156	)	$	(5,959	)
Amounts not yet recognized in net periodic benefit cost    and included in accumulated other comprehensive    income (loss):
Actuarial net (loss) gain	$	(32,286	)	$	(33,733	)	$	4,757		$	5,296
Prior service credits		—			—			1,753			2,251
Net amount recognized in accumulated other    comprehensive (loss) income	$	(32,286	)	$	(33,733	)	$	6,510		$	7,547

The amounts in accumulated other comprehensive loss as of September 26, 2020 that are expected to be recognized as components of net periodic benefit costs during fiscal 2021 are expenses of $3,592 and credits of ($1,221) for pension and other postretirement benefits, respectively.

Plan Assets.  The Partnership’s investment policies and strategies, as set forth in the Investment Management Policy and Guidelines, are monitored by a Benefits Committee comprised of six members of management.  The Partnership employs a liability driven investment strategy, which seeks to increase the correlation of the plan’s assets and liabilities to reduce the volatility of the plan’s funded status.  This strategy has resulted in an asset allocation that is largely comprised of investments in funds of fixed income securities.  The target asset mix is as follows: (i) fixed income securities portion of the portfolio should range between 80% and 90%; and (ii) equity securities portion of the portfolio should range between 10% and 20%.

The following table presents the actual allocation of assets held in trust as of:

	September 26,	September 28,
	2020	2019
Fixed income securities	86%	86%
Equity securities	14%	14%
	100%	100%

The Partnership’s valuations include the use of the funds’ reported net asset values for commingled fund investments.  Commingled funds are valued at the net asset value of its underlying securities.  The assets of the defined benefit pension plan have no significant concentration of risk and there are no restrictions on these investments.

The following table describes the measurement of the Partnership’s pension plan assets by asset category as of:

	September 26,		September 28,
	2020		2019
Short term investments (1)	$	1,485	$	1,502
Equity securities: (1) (2)
Domestic		4,138		4,314
International		7,117		7,393
Fixed income securities (1) (3)		67,261		67,704
	$	80,001	$	80,913

(1) Includes funds which are not publicly traded and are valued at the net asset value of the units provided by the fund issuer.

(2) Includes funds which invest primarily in a diversified portfolio of publicly traded U.S. and Non-U.S. common stock.

(3) Includes funds which invest primarily in publicly traded and non-publicly traded, investment grade corporate bonds, U.S. government bonds and asset-backed securities.

Projected Contributions and Benefit Payments.  The Partnership expects to contribute approximately $6,250 to the defined benefit pension plan during fiscal 2021.  Estimated future benefit payments for both pension and retiree health and life benefits are as follows:

	Pension		Retiree Health and
Fiscal Year	Benefits		Life Benefits
2021	$	27,217	$	843
2022		9,193		760
2023		8,785		680
2024		7,809		602
2025		7,619		529
2026 through 2030		30,853		1,727

Estimated future pension benefit payments assumes that age 65 or older active and non-active eligible participants in the pension plan that had not received a benefit payment prior to fiscal 2021 will elect to receive a benefit payment in fiscal 2021.  In addition, for all periods presented, estimated future pension benefit payments assumes that participants will elect a lump sum payment in the fiscal year that the participant becomes eligible to receive benefits.

Effect on Operations. The following table provides the components of net periodic benefit costs included in operating expenses for fiscal 2020, 2019 and 2018:

	Pension Benefits									Retiree Health and Life Benefits
	2020			2019			2018			2020			2019			2018
Interest cost	$	2,726		$	3,943		$	3,778		$	151		$	275		$	277
Expected return on plan assets		(1,270	)		(1,723	)		(1,894	)		—			—			—
Amortization of prior service credit		—			—			—			(498	)		(498	)		(498	)
Settlement charge		1,051			—			—			—			—			—
Recognized net actuarial loss (gain)		3,448			3,466			3,683			(786	)		(761	)		(654	)
Net periodic benefit costs	$	5,955		$	5,686		$	5,567		$	(1,133	)	$	(984	)	$	(875	)

During fiscal 2020, fiscal 2019 and fiscal 2018, lump sum pension settlement payments to either terminated or retired individuals amounted to $3,623, $3,869 and $3,373, respectively. The settlement threshold (combined service and interest costs of net periodic pension cost) for these three years were $2,725, $3,943 and $3,778, respectively.  In fiscal 2020, lump sum pension settlement payments exceeded the settlement threshold, which required the Partnership to recognize a non-cash settlement charge of $1,051.  The non-cash charges were required to accelerate recognition of a portion of cumulative unamortized losses in the defined benefit pension plan.  

Actuarial Assumptions.  The assumptions used in the measurement of the Partnership’s benefit obligations as of September 26, 2020 and September 28, 2019 are shown in the following table:

	Pension Benefits						Retiree Health and Life Benefits
	2020			2019			2020			2019
Weighted-average discount rate		2.125	%		2.875	%		1.375	%		2.375	%
Average rate of compensation increase	n/a			n/a			n/a			n/a
Health care cost trend	n/a			n/a				5.720	%		6.010	%

The assumptions used in the measurement of net periodic pension benefit and postretirement benefit costs for fiscal 2020, 2019 and 2018 are shown in the following table:

	Pension Benefits									Retiree Health and Life Benefits
	2020			2019			2018			2020			2019			2018
Weighted-average discount rate		2.875	%		4.000	%		3.500	%		2.375	%		3.750	%		3.000	%
Average rate of compensation increase	n/a			n/a			n/a			n/a			n/a			n/a
Weighted-average expected long-term    rate of return on plan assets		1.800	%		2.550	%		2.500	%	n/a			n/a			n/a
Health care cost trend	n/a			n/a			n/a				6.010	%		6.290	%		6.570	%

The discount rate assumption takes into consideration current market expectations related to long-term interest rates and the projected duration of the Partnership’s pension obligations based on a benchmark index with similar characteristics as the expected cash flow requirements of the Partnership’s defined benefit pension plan over the long-term. The expected long-term rate of return on plan assets assumption reflects estimated future performance in the Partnership’s pension asset portfolio considering the investment mix of the pension asset portfolio and historical asset performance.  The expected return on plan assets is determined based on the expected long-term rate of return on plan assets and the market-related value of plan assets.  The market-related value of pension plan assets is the fair value of the assets.  Unrecognized actuarial gains and losses in excess of 10% of the greater of the projected benefit obligation and the market-related value of plan assets are amortized over the expected average remaining service period of active employees expected to receive benefits under the plan.

The 5.72% increase in health care costs assumed at September 26, 2020 is assumed to decrease gradually to 4.50% in fiscal 2040 and to remain at that level thereafter.  An increase or decrease of the assumed health care cost trend rates by 1.0% in each year would have no material impact to the Partnership’s benefit obligation as of September 26, 2020 nor the aggregate of service and interest components of net periodic postretirement benefit expense for fiscal 2020.  The Partnership has concluded that the prescription drug benefits within the retiree medical plan do not entitle the Partnership to an available Medicare subsidy.

Multi-Employer Pension Plans.  As a result of the acquisition of the retail propane assets of Inergy, the Partnership contributes to multi-employer pension plans (“MEPPs”) in accordance with various collective bargaining agreements covering union employees.  As one of the many participating employers in these MEPPs, the Partnership is responsible with the other participating employers for any plan underfunding.  During fiscal 2013, the Partnership established an accrual of $7,000 for its estimated obligation to certain MEPPs due to the Partnership’s voluntary partial withdrawal from one such MEPP and full withdrawal from four MEPPs.  During fiscal 2015, the Partnership accrued $11,300 for its further voluntary partial withdrawal, and during fiscal 2016 the Partnership accrued an additional $6,600 for its voluntary full withdrawal.  As of September 26, 2020 and September 28, 2019, the Partnership’s estimated obligation to these MEPPs was $20,396 and $21,441, respectively.  Due to the uncertainty regarding future factors that could impact the withdrawal liability, the Partnership is unable to determine the timing of the payment of the future withdrawal liability, or additional future withdrawal liability, if any.

The Partnership’s contributions to a particular MEPP are established by the applicable collective bargaining agreements (“CBAs”); however, the required contributions may increase based on the funded status of a MEPP and legal requirements of the Pension Protection Act of 2006 (the “PPA”), which requires substantially underfunded MEPPs to implement a funding improvement plan (“FIP”) or a rehabilitation plan (“RP”) to improve their funded status.  Factors that could impact funded status of a MEPP include, without limitation, investment performance, changes in the participant demographics, decline in the number of contributing employers, changes in actuarial assumptions and the utilization of extended amortization provisions.

While no multi-employer pension plan that the Partnership contributed to is individually significant to the Partnership, the table below discloses the MEPPs to which the Partnership contributes.  The financial health of a MEPP is indicated by the zone status, as defined by the PPA, which represents the funded status of the plan as certified by the plan's actuary.  Plans in the red zone are less than 65% funded, the yellow zone are between 65% and 80% funded, and green zone are at least 80% funded.  Total contributions made by the Partnership to multi-employer pension plans for the fiscal years ended September 26, 2020, September 28, 2019 and September 29, 2018 are shown below.

		PPA Zone Status			Contributions						Contributions greater than 5% of	Expiration
Pension Fund	EIN/Pension Plan Number	2020	2019	FIP/RP Status	2020		2019		2018		Total Plan Contributions	date of CBA
Local 282 Pension Trust (1)	11-6245313	Green	Green	n/a	$	272	$	272	$	235	No	August 2024
Teamsters Industrial Employees    Pension Fund (2)	22-6099363	Green	Green	n/a		203		200		187	Yes	March 2021
Western Conference of Teamsters    Pension Plan (2)	91-6145047	Green	Green	n/a		24		27		20	No	February 2021
					$	499	$	499	$	442

(1) Based on most recent available valuation information for plan year ended February 2020.

(2) Based on most recent available valuation information for plan year ended December 2019.

Additionally, the Partnership contributes to certain multi-employer plans that provide health and welfare benefits and defined annuity plans.  Contributions to those plans were $1,151, $1,220 and $1,099 for fiscal 2020, 2019 and 2018, respectively.