6. OTHER LONG-TERM ASSETS

Other long-term assets consisted of the following:

	March 31, 2016		September 30, 2015

Auction rate securities (ARS)	$	5,694	$	5,694
Other long-term assets		4,120		3,595
Long-term contract asset		3,525		3,995
Other long-term investments		1,497		1,720
Total	$	14,836	$	15,004

We classify our ARS investments as held-to-maturity and have recorded them at cost. Our ARS investments at March 31, 2016 consisted of two tax exempt municipal debt securities with a total par value of $5,694, both of which have maturities greater than ten years. The ARS market began to experience illiquidity in early 2008, and this illiquidity continues. Despite this lack of liquidity, there have been no defaults in payment of the underlying securities and interest income on these holdings continues to be received on scheduled interest payment dates. Our ARS, when purchased, were issued by A-rated municipalities. Although the credit ratings of both municipalities have been downgraded since our original investment, one of the ARS is credit enhanced with bond insurance, and the other has become an obligation of the bond insurer. Both ARS currently carry a credit rating of AA- by Standard & Poor's.

The fair value of our ARS, determined using level 2 fair value inputs, was $5,121 as of March 31, 2016. We have classified our ARS as held-to-maturity based on our intention and ability to hold the securities until maturity. We believe the gross unrecognized loss of $573 is due to the illiquidity in the ARS market, rather than to credit loss. Although we believe these securities will ultimately be collected in full, we believe that it is not likely that we will be able to monetize the securities in our next business cycle (which for us is generally one year). We will continue to monitor our ARS for impairment indicators, which may require us to record an impairment charge that is deemed other-than-temporary.

In the third quarter of fiscal 2015, we amended a supply contract with an existing supplier. The amended agreement includes a fee of $4,500, which provides us the option to purchase certain raw materials beyond calendar 2016. This fee was recorded as a long-term asset at its present value and is being amortized into cost of goods sold on a straight-line basis through December 31, 2019, the expiration date of the agreement. See Note 10 for more information regarding this contract.

Other long-term assets are comprised of the long-term portion of prepaid unamortized debt costs as well as miscellaneous deposits and prepayments on contracts extending beyond the next 12 months. As discussed in Note 3, we recorded a long-term asset and a corresponding long-term liability of $1,497 representing the fair value of our SERP investments as of March 31, 2016.