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Employee Benefit Plans
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2011
Defined Benefit Pension Plans and Defined Benefit Postretirement Plans Disclosure [Abstract] 
Employee Benefit Plans
EMPLOYEE BENEFIT PLANS

The components of net pension expense for the Company’s two defined benefit non-contributory pension plans and certain nonqualified supplemental pension plans were:



Three months ended
September 30,
Nine months ended
September 30,
(in thousands)
2011
2010
2011
2010
Components of net periodic benefit cost:
 
 
 
 
Service cost
$
2,293

$
2,144

$
6,879

$
6,430

Interest cost
2,740

2,841

8,220

8,524

Expected long-term return on assets
(3,868
)
(3,229
)
(11,603
)
(9,686
)
Actuarial loss
1,609

1,443

4,826

4,330

Prior service cost amortization
124

124

372

372

Net periodic expense
$
2,898

$
3,323

$
8,694

$
9,970



The Company anticipates required contributions of approximately $7.2 million during 2011 to the pension plans. The Company expects sufficient funding credits, as established under Internal Revenue Code Section 430(f), exist to meet the required funding. It is not anticipated that the funded status of the pension plans will fall below statutory thresholds requiring accelerated funding or constraints on benefit levels or plan administration. No additional discretionary contributions are currently expected to be made to the pension plans by the Company during 2011. For the three months and nine months ending September 30, 2011, the Company made benefit payments aggregating $36,000 and $2.2 million, respectively, to retirees from the nonqualified supplemental retirement plans and expects to make additional benefit payments of approximately $36,000 through the remainder of 2011.

The components of net periodic postretirement benefit expense for the Company’s postretirement benefit plans were:



Three months ended
September 30,
Nine months ended
September 30,
(in thousands)
2011
2010
2011
2010
Components of net periodic benefit cost:
 
 
 
 
Service cost
$
442

$
516

$
1,327

$
1,548

Interest cost
1,111

1,208

3,332

3,625

Expected long-term return on assets
(1,104
)
(996
)
(3,314
)
(2,990
)
Transition amortization
479

479

1,438

1,438

Net periodic expense
$
928

$
1,207

$
2,783

$
3,621



For the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2011, the Company made contributions aggregating $0.9 million and $2.8 million, respectively, to the postretirement benefit plan assets. The Company expects to make additional discretionary contributions of approximately $0.9 million to postretirement benefit plan assets through the remainder of 2011. During the first quarter of 2010, the Company recognized $128,000 in income tax expense resulting from a reduction in deferred tax asset related to changes in the tax treatment for the Medicare Part D subsidy under the recently enacted health care reform legislation.