Note 6: Leases

On June 18, 2009, the Company entered into an agreement to lease a building in Irvine, California. The lease commenced September 1, 2009 and ended August 31, 2016. The initial base rent was set at $18,490 per month with scheduled annual increases through the end of the lease term. In November 2015, the Company signed the First Amendment to Lease to extend the lease until August 31, 2021. The initial base rent for the lease amendment which started September 1, 2016 was $21,000 per month. As of September 1, 2019, the rent was $22,948 per month.

In November 2016, the Company’s Mexican subsidiary, Biomerica de Mexico, entered into a 10-year lease for approximately 8,100 square feet of manufacturing space with initial base rent of $2,926 per month. The rent is currently set at $3,239 per month as of November 1, 2019. The Company has a one 10-year option to renew at the end of the initial lease period. Biomerica, Inc. is not a guarantor of such lease. Biomerica de Mexico also leases a smaller unit on a month-to-month basis for use in one manufacturing process. In addition, the Company leases a small office on a month-to-month basis in Lindau, Germany, as headquarters for BioEurope GmbH, its Germany subsidiary.

Components of lease expense include fixed lease expense of approximately $171,892 for the six months ended November 30, 2019. For purposes of determining straight-line rent expense, the lease term is calculated from the date the Company first takes possession of the facility, including any periods of free rent and any renewal options periods that the Company is reasonably certain of exercising. The Company’s office and equipment leases generally have contractually specified minimum rent and annual rent increases are included in the measurement of the right-of-use asset and related lease liability. Additionally, under these lease arrangements, the Company may be required to pay directly, or reimburse the lessors, for some maintenance and operating costs. Such amounts are generally variable and therefore not included in the measurement of the right-of-use asset and related lease liability but are instead recognized as variable lease expense in the Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations and Comprehensive Loss when they are incurred.

Supplemental cash flow information related to leases for the six months ended November 30, 2019:

Operating cash flows from operating leases	$	154,521

Right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for new operating lease liabilities		--
Weighted average remaining lease term (in years)		6.77
Weighted average discount rate		6.5	%

The maturity of lease liabilities as of November 30, 2019 are as follows:

Years Ending May 31
2020	$	97,494
2021		211,946
2022		236,410
2023		262,830
2024		291,350
Thereafter		778,807
Total	$	1,878,837