LEASES

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2023

LEASES [Abstract]

LEASES

NOTE 3 – LEASES

The Company leases land and office equipment under operating leases from non-related parties.  Our leases have remaining lease terms of 4 years to 73 years, some of which include options to automatically extend the leases for up to 66 years and are included as part of the lease liability and right of use assets as we expect to exercise the options.  Payments made under operating leases are recognized in the consolidated statement of operations on a straight-line basis over the period of the lease.  The annual lease payments for the land operating leases increase each year either by the most recent increase in the Consumer Price Index or by 3%, as applicable based on the lease agreements.  Periodically, the annual lease payment for one operating land lease is determined based on the fair market value of the applicable parcel of land.  None of the operating leases contain contingent rent provisions.  The commencement date of all the operating leases is the earlier of the date we become legally obligated to make rent payments or the date we may exercise control over the use of the land or equipment.  The Company currently does not have any financing leases and does not have any lessor leases that require disclosure.

Management made certain assumptions related to the separation of lease and nonlease components and to the discount rate used when calculating the right of use asset and liability amounts for the operating leases.  As our leases do not provide an implicit rate, we use our incremental borrowing rates for long-term and short-term agreements and apply the rates accordingly based on the term of the lease agreements to determine the present value of lease payments.

In October 1997, Artesian Water entered into a 33-year operating lease for a parcel of land with improvements located in South Bethany, a municipality in Sussex County, Delaware.  The annual lease payments increase each year by the most recent increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Workers, CPI-U, as published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.  At each eleventh year of the lease term, the annual lease payment shall be determined based on the fair market value of the parcel of land.  Rental payments for 2023, 2022 and 2021 were $19,000, $19,000, and $17,000, respectively.  The future minimum rental payment as disclosed in the following table is calculated using CPI-U from August 2023 as well as the adjustment for an appraisal conducted in 2019 to determine the fair market value of the parcel of land.

In March 2023, Artesian Water entered into a 5-year operating lease for office equipment. The previous lease for office equipment expired in March 2022. The quarterly lease payments under both lease agreements remained fixed throughout the term of the lease.  Payments pursuant to the lease agreements  for 2023, 2022 and 2021 were $6,000, $5,000 and $19,000, respectively.

Rent expense for all operating leases except those with terms of 12 months or less comprises:

	For the Twelve Months Ended December 31,
(in thousands)
	2023		2022
Minimum rentals	$	34	$	32
Contingent rentals		—		—
	$	34	$	32

Supplemental cash flow information related to leases is as follows:

(in thousands)

	Twelve Months Ended		Twelve Months Ended
	December 31,		December 31,
		2023			2022
Cash paid for amounts included in the measurement of lease liabilities:
Operating cash flows from operating leases	$	34		$	32
Right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for lease obligations:
Operating leases	$	506		$	467

Supplemental balance sheet information related to leases is as follows:

(in thousands, except lease term and discount rate)
	December 31, 2023			December 31, 2022
Operating Leases:
Operating lease right-of-use assets	$	506		$	467
Other current liabilities	$	9		$	2
Operating lease liabilities		503			466
Total operating lease liabilities	$	512		$	468
Weighted Average Remaining Lease Term
Operating leases	58 years			61 years
Weighted Average Discount Rate
Operating leases		5.0	%		5.0	%

Maturities of operating lease liabilities that have initial or remaining non-cancelable lease terms in excess of one year as of December 31, 2023 are as follows:

	(in thousands)
	Operating Leases
Year
2024	$	35
2025		35
2026		35
2027		35
2028		29
Thereafter		1,429
Total undiscounted lease payments	$	1,598
Less effects of discounting		(1,086	)
Total lease liabilities recognized		512

As of December 31, 2023, we have not entered into finance leases that will commence at a future date.