Note 4 - Debts and Commitments

12 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2016

4.	DEBTS AND COMMITMENTS

In December 2012, the Company borrowed from its investment margin account the purchase price of $14 million for the New Dawn acquisition, and in September 2013, it borrowed another $15.5 million for the ISD acquisition, in each case pledging its marketable securities as collateral. The interest rate for these investment margin account borrowings fluctuates based on the Federal Funds Rate plus 50 basis points with interest only payable monthly. The interest rate as of September 30, 2016 was 1%. These investment margin account borrowings do not mature.

In November 2015, the Company purchased a 30,700 square foot office building constructed in 1998 on about 3.6 acres in Logan, Utah that had been previously leased by Journal Technologies. The Company paid $1.24 million and financed the balance with a real estate bank loan of $2.26 million which bears a fixed interest rate of 4.66% and is repayable in equal monthly installments of about $17,600 through 2030. This loan is secured by the Logan facility and can be paid off at any time without prepayment penalty. This real estate loan had a balance of approximately $2.18 million as of September 30, 2016.

The Company owns its facilities in Los Angeles and an office building in Logan and leases space for its other offices under operating leases which expire at various dates through fiscal 2020. During fiscal 2014, the Company renewed its office lease for its San Francisco office for five years to end on October 31, 2019 with currently a monthly rent of approximately $24,000 for about 6,200 square feet. The Logan, Utah office operating lease entered into in December 2012 in connection with the New Dawn acquisition required a monthly rent of $42,000 for about 30,200 square feet, and it expired in November 2015 when the Company purchased the Logan building. Part of this office space is sub-leased to third parties under short-term leases for approximately $5,000 per month.

The Company is responsible for a portion of maintenance, insurance and property tax expenses relating to the leased properties. Rental expenses for fiscal years 2016, 2015 and 2014 were $745,000, $1,171,000 and $1,182,000, respectively.

The following table represents the Company’s future obligations:

	Payments due by Fiscal Year
	2017		2018		2019		2020		2021		2022 and after		Total
Real estate loan	$	110,000	$	115,000	$	121,000	$	127,000	$	133,000	$	1,576,000	$	2,182,000
Obligations under operating leases		595,000		418,000		360,000		29,000		---		---		1,402,000
Long-term accrued liabilities*		---		9,000		9,000		7,000		6,000		31,000		62,000
	$	705,000	$	542,000	$	490,000	$	163,000	$	139,000	$	1,607,000	$	3,646,000

* The long-term accrued liabilities are discounted to the present value using a discount rate of 6%.