Employee Benefit Plans

3 Months Ended

Jan. 31, 2016

Compensation and Retirement Disclosure [Abstract]

Employee Benefit Plans

Employee Benefit Plans

Effective January 1, 2016, we replaced the existing retiree medical and dental group coverage for eligible retirees with a tax-free Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA). Under the new HRA, participating eligible retirees and their dependents will receive a subsidy each year through the HRA account to help purchase medical and dental coverage available on public and private health care exchanges using a tax-advantaged account funded by us to pay for allowable medical and dental expenses.

Beginning in fiscal year 2016, we changed the methodology we use to calculate the periodic net benefit cost for our defined benefit pension plan. We decided to replace the zero-coupon spot rate yield curve as the basis to estimate the service and interest cost components with a full yield curve methodology. This methodology applies specific spot rates along the yield curve to determine the benefit obligations of the relevant projected cash flows. We made this change to improve the correlation between projected benefit cash flows and the corresponding yield curve spot rates and to provide a more precise measurement of service and interest costs. This change did not affect the measurement of our total benefit obligation as the change in the service and interest costs is completely offset by the actuarial (gain) loss reported. We accounted for this change as a change in estimate and, accordingly, accounted for it prospectively beginning in 2016.

Components of the net periodic benefit cost for our defined benefit pension plans and our other postretirement employee benefits (OPEB) plan for the three months ended January 31, 2016 and 2015 are presented below.

	Qualified Pension						Nonqualified Pension				Other Benefits
In thousands	2016			2015			2016		2015		2016			2015
Service cost	$	2,750		$	3,050		$	—	$	—	$	294		$	295
Interest cost	2,400			2,975			40		52		321			369
Expected return on plan assets	(6,000		)	(5,925		)	—		—		(442		)	(459		)
Amortization of prior service (credit) cost	(550		)	(550		)	52		58		(83		)	—
Amortization of actuarial loss	2,100			2,050			20		21		115			7
Total	$	700		$	1,600		$	112	$	131	$	205		$	212

In November 2015, we contributed $10 million to the qualified pension plan, and in January 2016, we contributed $1.8 million to the money purchase pension plan. During the three months ended January 31, 2016, we contributed $.1 million to the nonqualified pension plans. We anticipate that we will contribute the following additional amounts to our plans in 2016.

In thousands
Nonqualified pension plans	$	389
OPEB plan	1,300

We have a non-qualified defined contribution restoration plan (DCR plan) for certain officers at the vice president level and above where benefits payable under the plan are informally funded annually. For the three months ended January 31, 2016, we contributed $.5 million to this plan. Participants may not contribute to the DCR plan. We have a voluntary deferral compensation plan for the benefit of all director-level employees and officers, where we make no contributions to this plan. Both deferred compensation plans are funded through rabbi trusts with a bank as the trustee. As of January 31, 2016, we have a liability of $5 million for these plans.

See Note 8 and Note 9 to the condensed consolidated financial statements in this Form 10-Q for information on the investments in marketable securities that are held in the trusts.