Matt Switzer: I mean it won’t fully be in until next quarter, but I still feel pretty confident about that range. Maybe it’s much higher. I think we said 18 to 18.5 — maybe 18.5 to 19 at the end of the day, but still comfortable in that neighborhood next quarter.
Casey Whitman: And that just excludes the mortgage, right?
Matt Switzer: Yes, it does. Yes.
Dennis Zember: Branch closed today.
Casey Whitman: Is that right? Is that — the branches closing at the end of the month or today?
Dennis Zember: Today.
Casey Whitman: Okay. Great.
Dennis Zember: All right. Thank you.
Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Feddie Strickland from Janney Montgomery Scott.
Feddie Strickland: I just wanted to go back to that expense point we were just talking about the $18.5 million to $19 million expense run rate. How much could we see that grow over the course of 2024? Just trying to get a good sense for beyond just next quarter or the next couple of quarters, whether that’s low mid-single digits? Or what’s your thinking in terms of expenses for next year?
Matt Switzer: That’s a great question. I mean our — given the environment, we are 100% focused on controlling expenses. So our goal is to bottom out at that level and then keep increases to a minimum. So I’d like to thank low single digits at the end of the day, certainly not higher than that.
Feddie Strickland: Got it. And then I think you mentioned this in your opening comments, but what was the spot rate on new deposits at the end of the quarter, and as we sit here in late October, is that — has that gone up by any meaningful amount?
Dennis Zember: I think the spot rate on deposits, obviously, is still inching higher, not in a dramatic fashion, but what’s — but we’re more than outpacing that with asset repricing and with incremental new business. I mean the incremental new business was solidly in the 5s. So I mean, I think we’re generating enough — honestly, I think we’re generating enough new incremental spread with just new business. That really asset repricing is really what’s moving the margin higher.
Matt Switzer: Yes. I think we saw on cost of deposits in July and August. Overall cost of deposits went up about 5 basis points a month, but it was lower than that in September. And with some of the wins we got late in the month, we’re hoping that’s less than that to flat in October, November.
Feddie Strickland: Understood. That’s helpful. And then the $75 million in brokerage CDs that you have rolling off later this year, do you think you’ll put some level of that back on just the supplement funding base? Or do you feel like deposit growth is strong enough at this point that you can potentially let that roll off?
Matt Switzer: We’re going to let that roll off.
Feddie Strickland: Okay. Last question for me. What’s your base case for net charge-offs over the next couple of quarters? I mean, obviously, we don’t know exactly how everything is going to play out with credit. But should we expect a certain level each quarter and just compare that with where the strong reserve level is today?
Matt Switzer: I think with the last piece of that assisted living relationship, there’s still a little bit of a specific reserve left that will be charged off in the fourth quarter. Absent that, I mean, our charge-off has been running — we’ll have the 600 a quarter — about 600,000 a quarter. And we don’t see any reason why that would be in the near term.
Feddie Strickland: Understood.
Operator: [Operator Instructions] We have no further questions in the queue at this time. I’ll turn the call back over to Dennis Zember for closing remarks.
Dennis Zember: All right. Thank you again for joining our call. I hope you have a good and safe weekend. If you have any questions, we are here in the office, and I’m happy to take the call. All right. Thank you. Have a good day.
Operator: And this concludes today’s conference call. Thank you for your participation, and you may now disconnect.
