Note 11. Leases

A lease is defined as a contract, or part of a contract, that conveys the right to control the use of identified property, plant or equipment for a period of time in exchange for consideration.

Substantially all of the leases in which the Company is the lessee are comprised of real estate for branches and office space with terms extending through 2044. All of our leases are classified as operating leases. With the adoption of Topic 842, operating lease agreements are required to be recognized on the consolidated balance sheet as a right-of-use (“ROU”) asset and a corresponding lease liability.

The lease agreements have maturity dates ranging from August 2026 to May 2044, some of which include options for multiple five-year extensions. The weighted average remaining life of the lease term and weighted average discount rate for these leases was 9.75 years and 3.60% at December 31, 2025, and 10.41 years 3.53% at December 31, 2024.

The following table represents the consolidated balance sheet classification of the Company’s ROU assets and lease liabilities. The Company elected not to include short-term leases (i.e., leases with initial terms of twelve months or less), or equipment leases (deemed immaterial) on the consolidated balance sheet (in thousands):

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The calculated amount of the ROU assets and lease liabilities in the table above are impacted by the length of the lease term and the discount rate used to present value the minimum lease payments. The Company’s lease agreements often include one or more options to renew at the Company’s discretion. If at lease inception the Company considers the exercising of a renewal option to be reasonably certain, the Company will include the extended term in the calculation of the ROU asset and lease liability. Regarding the discount rate, Topic 842 requires the use of the rate implicit in the lease whenever this rate is readily determinable. As this rate is rarely determinable, the Company utilizes its incremental borrowing rate at lease inception, on a collateralized basis, over a similar term.

The Company elected, for all classes of underlying assets, not to separate lease and non-lease components and instead to account for them as a single lease component, the variable lease cost primarily represents variable payments such as common area maintenance. The following table represents lease costs and other lease information for the years ended December 31, (in thousands):

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Future minimum payments for operating leases with initial or remaining terms of one year or more as of December 31, 2025, were as follows (in thousands):

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Net lease expense for the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024, and 2023, was $1.9 million, $2.0 million and $1.8 million, respectively.

The Company entered into two leasing arrangements for branch offices with companies that are wholly owned by a board of director’s immediate family. The Company has determined that these leasing arrangements were considered economically fair.

Dolly Parton Parkway Lease. On March 20, 2018, SmartBank entered into a fifteen year lease (with four, five year renewal options) with Jacob L. Ogle and Taylor Ogle, the sons of director David A. Ogle, for a bank branch located at 710 Dolly Parton Parkway, Sevierville, Tennessee 37862. This lease was subsequently assigned by Mr. Ogle’s sons to a limited liability company, Midnight Pass Holdings, LLC, wholly owned by Mr. Ogle’s sons. The lease is a triple net lease. The initial annual base rent under lease is $63,000, and the annual base rent gradually increases throughout the initial fifteen year term to $96,000 annually in years eleven through fifteen.

Alcoa Lease. On June 1, 2019, SmartBank entered into a fifteen year lease (with three, five year renewal options) with 1419 Parkway, LLC for a bank branch located at 109 Associates Blvd., Alcoa, Tennessee 37701. 1419 Parkway, LLC is wholly-owned by Jacob L. Ogle and Taylor Ogle, the sons of director David A. Ogle. The lease is a triple net lease. The initial annual base rent under lease is $75,000, and the annual base rent gradually increases throughout the initial fifteen year term to $99,000 annually in years eleven through fifteen.

For the years ended December 31, 2025, 2024, and 2023, the Company paid $174 thousand, $165 thousand and $157 thousand, respectively, for base rent payments.

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