NOTE 12. COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

The Company leases certain facilities under various operating leases. Most of the lease agreements provide the Company with the option of renewing its lease at the end of the lease term, at the fair rental value. In most cases, management expects that in the normal course of business, facility leases will be renewed or replaced by other leases. Minimum payments under these leases, exclusive of property taxes and insurance, was as follows:

(in thousands)

 

 

 

Year Ended December 31,

 

 

 

2026

 

$

4,696

 

2027

 

 

3,331

 

2028

 

 

2,156

 

2029

 

 

1,090

 

2030

 

 

505

 

Thereafter

 

 

664

 

 

 

$

12,442

 

 

Facility rent expense was $9.3 million in 2025, $9.0 million in 2024 and $10.8 million in 2023.

The Company is involved in various lawsuits and routine claims arising out of the normal course of its business. The Company maintains insurance coverage for its operations and employees with appropriate aggregate, per occurrence and deductible limits as the Company reasonably determines necessary or prudent with current operations and historical experience. The major policies include coverage for property, general liability, auto, directors and officers, health, and workers’ compensation insurances. The Company records a provision for a liability when it believes that it is both probable that a liability has been incurred and the amount can be reasonably estimated. Significant judgment is required to determine both probability and the estimated amount. The Company reviews these provisions at least quarterly and adjusts these provisions to reflect the impact of negotiations, settlements, rulings, advice of legal counsel, and updated information. Litigation is inherently unpredictable and is subject to significant uncertainties, some of which are beyond the Company’s control. In the opinion of management, there was not at least a reasonable possibility that the ultimate amount of liability not covered by insurance, if any, under any pending litigation and claims, individually or in the aggregate, will have a material adverse effect on the financial position or operating results of the Company.

The Company’s health plans are self-funded high deductible plans with annual stop-loss insurance for protection against payments that exceed thresholds on a per claim basis and in the aggregate. The Company records an expense when claim payments are made and accrues for the portion of claims incurred, but not yet paid at period end. The Company makes these accruals based upon a combination of historical claim payments, loss development experience and actuarial estimates. A high degree of judgment is required in developing the underlying assumptions and the resulting amounts to be accrued. In addition, our assumptions will change as the Company’s loss experience develops. All of these factors have the potential to impact the amounts previously accrued and the Company may be required to increase or decrease the amounts previously accrued. At December 31, 2025 and 2024, accruals for the Company’s self-funded high deductible health plans were $1.9 million and $1.7 million, respectively.

Historical Timeline

Fiscal YearFiled
2025Feb 25, 2026Showing above
2024Feb 19, 2025
2023Feb 21, 2024
2022Feb 22, 2023
2021Feb 23, 2022
2020Feb 23, 2021
2019Feb 25, 2020
2018Feb 26, 2019
2017Feb 27, 2018
2016Feb 28, 2017
2015Feb 25, 2016

About Commitments Disclosures

Commitments and contingencies disclosures catalog a company's off-balance-sheet obligations and legal exposures — purchase commitments, guarantee arrangements, pending litigation, and regulatory proceedings. These items represent potential future cash outflows that may not appear as liabilities on the balance sheet until they become probable and estimable.

Key signals: litigation reserves and disclosed loss ranges quantify management's estimate of legal exposure, but unquantified "reasonably possible" losses often represent the larger risk. Watch for changes in language around pending cases — shifts from "remote" to "reasonably possible" or increases in estimated loss ranges signal deteriorating outcomes. Unconditional purchase obligations and take-or-pay contracts create fixed cost structures that reduce operational flexibility. Guarantee arrangements for subsidiaries or joint ventures can create cascading obligations. Compare the total commitment schedule against projected free cash flow to assess whether the company can meet its obligations without additional financing.