Fair Value Measurements

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2012

Fair Value Measurements

Fair Value Measurements

15.Fair Value Measurements

GAAP establishes a framework for measuring fair value, and requires certain disclosures about fair value measurements to enable the reader of the financial statements to assess the inputs used to develop those measurements by establishing a hierarchy for ranking the quality and reliability of the information used to determine fair values.  GAAP requires that financial assets and liabilities be classified and disclosed in one of the following three categories:

Level 1:  Quoted market prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

Level 2:  Observable market based inputs or unobservable inputs that are corroborated by market data.

Level 3:  Unobservable inputs that are not corroborated by market data.

The fair value of cash, receivables and payables approximate their carrying value due to the short-term nature of the instruments. The valuation is based on settlements of similar financial instruments all of which are short-term in nature and are generally settled at or near cost. The fair value of debt was estimated based on rates currently available to the Company for debt with similar terms and maturities. The carrying amount of debt at September 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011 was $47,568,000 and $45,521,000, respectively, which approximated fair value.  The fair value of cash and debt has been classified as level 1 and level 2 measurements, respectively.