Note 12 - Deferred Compensation Plans

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2018

Notes to Financial Statements

Compensation and Employee Benefit Plans [Text Block]

12. DEFERRED COMPENSATION PLANS

The Bank has entered into supplemental retirement compensation benefits agreements with certain directors and executive officers. The measurement of the liability under these agreements includes estimates involving life expectancy, length of time before retirement and the expected returns on the bank-owned life insurance policies used to fund those agreements. Should these estimates prove materially wrong, the cost of these agreements could change accordingly. The related deferred compensation obligation to these directors and executive officers included in other liabilities was

$3.4

million and

$3.5

million as of

September 30, 2018

and

December 31, 2017,

respectively.

Non-employee directors

may

elect to defer payment of all or any portion of their Bancshares and Bank director fees under Bancshares’ Non-Employee Directors’ Deferred Compensation Plan (the “Deferral Plan”). The Deferral Plan permits non-employee directors to invest their directors’ fees and to receive the adjusted value of the deferred amounts in cash and/or shares of Bancshares’ common stock. Neither Bancshares nor the Bank makes any contribution to participants’ accounts under the Deferral Plan.  As of

September 30, 2018

and

December 31, 2017,

a total of

112,567

and

103,620

shares of Bancshares common stock, respectively, were deferred in connection with the Deferral Plan. All deferred fees, whether in the form of cash or shares of Bancshares common stock, are reflected as compensation expense in the period earned. The Company classifies all deferred directors’ fees allocated to be paid in shares as equity surplus. The Company uses shares of treasury stock to satisfy these obligations when due

.