Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2018

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

Provision for income taxes

The provision for income taxes from continuing operations consisted of the following:

	For the years ended December 31,
(in thousands)	2018			2017			2016
Current:
Federal	$	(719	)	$	215		$	904
State and local	1,119			(963		)	(1,628		)
Foreign	1			—			—
Total current income tax provision (benefit)	401			(748		)	(724		)
Deferred:
Federal	16,513			(16,602		)	31,029
State and local	1,188			(2,704		)	2,961
Foreign	(4		)	—			—
Total deferred income tax provision (benefit)	17,697			(19,306		)	33,990
Provision (benefit) for income taxes	$	18,098		$	(20,054	)	$	33,266

Effective income tax rate reconciliation

The difference between the statutory rate for federal income tax and the effective income tax rate was as follows:

	For the years ended December 31,
	2018		2017		2016
Statutory rate	21.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
Effect of:
State and local income taxes, net of federal tax benefit	3.0		2.2		3.0
Excess tax benefits from stock-based compensation	0.9		7.1		(1.8	)
Nondeductible expenses	1.5		(4.6	)	1.4
Reserve for uncertain tax positions	(0.2	)	3.6		(0.8	)
U.S. federal statutory rate change	—		13.2		—
Other	(1.8	)	6.0		(1.1	)
Effective income tax rate	24.4	%	62.5	%	35.7	%

Schedule of deferred income tax (liabilities) assets

The approximate effect of the temporary differences giving rise to deferred income tax assets (liabilities) were as follows:

	As of December 31,
(in thousands)	2018			2017
Temporary differences:
Property and equipment	$	(14,545	)	$	(14,493	)
Goodwill and other intangible assets	(81,721		)	(52,532		)
Investments, primarily gains and losses not yet recognized for tax purposes	3,067			2,792
Accrued expenses not deductible until paid	8,792			7,136
Deferred compensation and retiree benefits not deductible until paid	56,902			61,070
Other temporary differences, net	3,416			3,267
Total temporary differences	(24,089		)	7,240
Federal and state net operating loss carryforwards	12,800			15,455
Valuation allowance for state deferred tax assets	(5,101		)	(2,619		)
Net deferred tax asset (liability)	$	(16,390	)	$	20,076

Gross unrecognized tax benefit reconciliation

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending balances of the total amounts of gross unrecognized tax benefits is as follows:

	For the years ended December 31,
(in thousands)	2018			2017			2016
Gross unrecognized tax benefits at beginning of year	$	1,088		$	2,665		$	5,011
Increases in tax positions for prior years	130			16			22
Decreases in tax positions for prior years	(33		)	(390		)	(1,684		)
Increases in tax positions for current years	182			—			336
Decreases in tax positions for current years	—			(54		)	—
Decreases from lapse in statute of limitations	(255		)	(1,149		)	(1,020		)
Gross unrecognized tax benefits at end of year	$	1,112		$	1,088		$	2,665