Note 14 - Employee Benefit Plans

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2017

Notes to Financial Statements

Compensation and Employee Benefit Plans [Text Block]

(

14

)        

EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

Defined Contribution Plan:

The Bank has a qualified contributory defined contribution plan available to all eligible employees. The plan allows participating employees to make tax-deferred contributions under Internal Revenue Code Section

401

(k). The Bank contributed

$478,000,

$472,000

and

$362,000

to the plan for the years ended

December 31, 2017,

2016

and

2015,

respectively.

Employee Stock Ownership Plan:

On

December 31, 1998,

the Bank established a leveraged employee stock ownership plan (“ESOP”) covering substantially all employees. The Bank accounts for the ESOP in accordance with FASB ASC

718

-

40,

Employee Stock Ownership Plans

. The ESOP trust acquired

61,501

shares of Company common stock financed by a loan with the Company with a

ten

year term. The employer loan and the related interest income are

not

recognized in the consolidated financial statements as the debt is serviced from Bank contributions. Dividends payable on allocated shares are charged to retained earnings and are satisfied by the allocation of cash dividends to participant accounts. Dividends payable on unallocated shares are

not

considered dividends for financial reporting purposes. Shares held by the ESOP trust are allocated to participant accounts based on the ratio of the current year principal and interest payments to the total of the current year and future year’s principal and interest to be paid on the employer loan. The employer loan was fully paid in

2008

and all shares of the Company common stock have been allocated to participant accounts.

Compensation expense is recognized based on the average fair value of shares released for allocation to participant accounts during the year with a corresponding credit to stockholders’ equity.

No

compensation expense was recognized for the years ended

December 31, 2017,

2016

and

2015

as all shares were allocated during

2008.

At

December 31, 2017

and

2016,

the ESOP trust held

53,181

and

54,196

shares of Company stock, respectively, including shares acquired on the open market, all of which had been allocated to participant accounts.