NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (Continued)
The Company has qualified defined contribution (DC) retirement plans covering most employees. There are no prior service costs associated with these plans. The Company follows the policy of funding qualified retirement plan contributions as earned. The Company also has maintained two non-qualified plans to accrue retirement benefits subject to Internal Revenue Code limitations. During fiscal 2003, the Company terminated three DC plans that covered the majority of its employees: a 401(k) plan that previously included the employees at FRC, a money purchase plan for workers at the manufacturing subsidiaries and a profit-sharing plan for employees at the Companys headquarters. All assets and participant accounts associated with the terminated plans were transferred to a single 401(k) plan, with no loss of benefits. In addition, the Company established a non-qualified Deferred Compensation Alternative (DCA) plan that serves as a retirement vehicle for after-tax contributions in excess of IRS limitations. The costs associated with these retirement plans are summarized as follows:
| Qualified DC Plans |
Non-Qualified Plans |
Total | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| (Amounts in thousands) | |||||||||||
| 2006 | $ | 13,356 | $ | 3,296 | $ | 16,652 | |||||
| 2005 | 15,052 | 4,403 | 19,455 | ||||||||
| 2004 | 15,575 | 3,253 | 18,828 | ||||||||
The Company also sponsors one defined benefit plan assumed in connection with the acquisition of Fleetwood Folding Trailers, Inc. in 1989. The plan covers over 500 participants and has approximately $6.6 million in assets. Plan assets are held in trust and are invested in equity and fixed income securities. The funding policy is set to meet statutory minimum funding requirements plus such additional amounts as the Company may determine to be appropriate. Plan assets for determining minimum funding requirements are valued by recognizing 20 percent of the difference between actual and expected investment income each year. On this basis and on a market-value basis, the plan is 67 percent funded with respect to benefits earned under the plan.
In addition to the two non-qualified retirement plans, the Company has provided a non-qualified deferred compensation plan that has allowed for the voluntary deferral of a portion of managers compensation. With the exception of the DCA plan, where returns are dictated by a portfolio of investments selected by the individual, participant balances in the various non-qualified plans are credited with interest at a rate set at the discretion of the Company which, for the three years ended April 2006, was the prime rate as published by a major U.S. bank. To enhance security for the benefits payable under these plans, excluding the DCA plan, the Company has established a Rabbi Trust, funded with Company-owned life insurance (COLI) policies on the lives of participants. The assets of the trust are not generally available to the Company or its creditors, except to pay benefits or in the event of the Companys insolvency. No premium payments were made in fiscal years 2006, 2005 or 2004. In fiscal 2006 and 2005, respectively, $6.5 million and $12.4 million were borrowed from the trust in the form of policy loans to pay participant benefits. The liability for benefits accrued under the non-qualified plans at the end of fiscal 2006 and 2005 totaled $33.6 million and $38.8 million, respectively. The cash values of the related trust assets reflected in the accompanying balance sheets were $29.9 million and $36.9 million, respectively, at those same dates.
In response to Federal legislation that created Internal Revenue Code Section 409A, effective as of January 1, 2005, the Company amended the two non-qualified retirement plans along with the non-qualified deferred compensation plan to prohibit any further contributions or deferrals. By virtue of this amendment, these plans will not be subject to rules established by the new law, relating primarily to the distribution of participant balances. In addition, on the same date, the Company established a new 2005 Deferred Compensation Plan, primarily to accommodate retirement profit sharing contributions in excess of IRS limitations. All contributions to the new plan are subject to the provisions of the new legislation.
