Note 4 - Debts and Commitments

12 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2020

Notes to Financial Statements

Commitments Disclosure [Text Block]

4. DEBTS AND COMMITMENTS

During fiscal 2013, the Company borrowed from its investment margin account the aggregate purchase price of $29.5 million for two acquisitions, 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, 2020 was .75%. 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 $1.71 million as of September 30, 2020. (In October 2020, the Company executed an amendment to lower the interest rate of this loan to a fixed rate of 3.33% for the remaining of its 10 years.)

The Company also owns its facilities in Los Angeles and leases space for its other offices under operating leases which expire at various dates through fiscal 2022. The Company leased approximately 6,200 square feet of office space in San Francisco, but the Company closed its San Francisco office upon the end of the lease in October 2019.

The Company is responsible for a portion of maintenance, insurance and property tax expenses relating to the leased properties. Rental expenses for fiscal years 2020 and 2019 were $612,000 and $1,017,000, respectively.

The following table represents the Company’s future obligations

	Payments due by Fiscal Year
	2021		2022		2023		2024		2025		2026 and after		Total
Real estate loan	$	131,000	$	148,000	$	153,000	$	158,000	$	164,000	$	955,000	$	1,709,000
Obligations under operating leases		129,000		11,000		—		—		—		—		140,000
Long-term accrued liabilities and other*		10,000		434,000		191,000		215,000		160,000		445,000		1,455,000
	$	270,000	$	593,000	$	344,000	$	373,000	$	324,000	$	1,400,000	$	3,304,000

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