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Pension Benefits
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2024
Pension Benefits  
Pension Benefits

15.  Pension Benefits

The Company has a noncontributory defined benefit pension plan covering certain employees who work at least 1,000 hours per year. The participants have a vested interest in their accrued benefit after five full years of service. The benefits of the plan are based upon the employee’s years of service and average annual earnings for the highest five consecutive calendar years during the final ten-year period of employment. Plan assets are primarily debt securities (including U.S. Treasury and Agency securities and corporate bonds), listed common stocks (including shares of AmeriServ Financial, Inc. common stock which is limited to 10% of the plan’s assets), mutual funds, and short-term

cash equivalent instruments. The net periodic pension cost for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023 were as follows (in thousands):

Three months ended

Nine months ended

    

September 30, 

September 30, 

2024

    

2023

    

2024

    

2023

COMPONENTS OF NET PERIODIC BENEFIT COST:

  

 

  

  

 

  

Service cost

$

211

$

327

$

628

$

841

Interest cost

 

369

 

514

 

1,173

 

1,384

Expected return on plan assets

 

(1,051)

 

(1,124)

 

(3,119)

 

(3,192)

Amortization of net loss

 

 

29

 

 

29

Settlement charge

 

34

 

 

410

 

Net periodic pension benefit

$

(437)

$

(254)

$

(908)

$

(938)

The service cost component of net periodic benefit cost is included in salaries and employee benefits and all other components of net periodic benefit cost are included in other expense on the Consolidated Statements of Operations.

The Company recognized a $34,000 and $410,000 settlement charge in connection with its defined benefit pension plan in the third quarter and first nine months of 2024, respectively, while no such charge was recognized in the same periods of 2023. A settlement charge must be recognized when the total dollar amount of lump sum distributions paid from the pension plan to retired employees exceeds a threshold of expected annual service and interest costs in the current year. It is important to note that since the retired employees have chosen to take lump sum payments, these individuals are no longer included in the pension plan. Therefore, the Company’s basic annual pension expense is expected to be lower in the future. This was evident in 2023 and so far in 2024 as the Company has recognized a net periodic pension benefit in both years.

The accrued pension obligation, which had a positive (debit) balance of $29.1 million and $24.7 million, was reclassified to other assets on the Consolidated Balance Sheets as of September 30, 2024 and December 31, 2023, respectively. The balance of the accrued pension obligation continues to be a positive value as a result of Company contributions to the plan and the revaluation of the obligation.

The Company implemented a soft freeze of its defined benefit pension plan to provide that non-union employees hired on or after January 1, 2013 and union employees hired on or after January 1, 2014 are not eligible to participate in the pension plan. Instead, such employees are eligible to participate in a qualified 401(k) plan. This change was made to help reduce pension costs in future periods.