Provision for loan losses decreased by $400,000, or 69.57%, to $175,000 for the year ended December 31, 2019 from a provision for loan losses for the year ended December 31, 2018 of $575,000. We recorded net recoveries of $16,000 for the year ended December 31, 2019 compared to net charge-offs of $425,000 for year ended December 31, 2018.Non-performing loans totaled $489,000 at December 31, 2019 compared to $1.2 million at December 31, 2018. The decrease of $752,000 innon-performing loans was primarily the result of a decrease of $247,000 innon-performingone-to four-family residential loans and a decrease of $484,000 in nonresidential loans. The decrease innon-performingone-to four-family loans was attributed to several loans paying in full without loss to the Company and one property selling at foreclosure with acharge-off recorded on the transaction of $50,000. The decrease innon-performing nonresidential loans was due to the settlement of a loan relationship where the Company reported acharge-off of $335,000 during the year ended December 31, 2018 and a subsequent recovery of $115,000 during the year ended December 31, 2019 for which the Company has no additional exposure. Ournon-performing loans to total loans decreased to 0.31% at December 31, 2019 from 0.86% at December 31, 2018. The remaining provisions for loan losses for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 was related to organic loan growth.
Non-interest Income.Non-interest income increased by $11,000, or 1.89%, to $592,000 for the year ended December 31, 2019 from $581,000 for the year ended December 31, 2018. The increase was primarily due to an increase in income on gain on sale of loans of $28,000, or 14.97%, to $215,000 for the year ended December 31, 2019 from $187,000 for the year ended December 31, 2018, offset by a decrease in income from bank-owned life insurance of $14,000, or 10.94%, to $114,000 for the year ended December 31, 2019 from $128,000 for the year ended December 31, 2018.
Non-interest Expense.Non-interest expense increased by $942,000, or 16.24%, to $6.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2019 from $5.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2018. Salaries, director fees and employee benefits increased $534,000, or 14.43%, to $4.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2019 from $3.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2018 primarily due to the recording of $432,000 in stock-based compensation expense relating to the 2019 Equity Incentive Plan as well as the expansion of our employee base, including sales and relationship management personnel to help support our continued growth strategy. Professional and legal fees increased $247,000, or 82.06%, to $548,000 for the year ended December 31, 2019 from $301,000 for the year ended December 31, 2018 primarily due to increased expenses relating to reporting requirements associated with the Company’s pubic company status, increased consulting fees relating to information technology system enhancements and increased legal fee expenses relating to past due loan relationships that were resolved during 2019. FDIC premiums and regulatory expenses decreased $20,000, or 17.39%, to $95,000 for the year ended December 31, 2019 from $115,000 for the year ended December 31, 2018 due to the FDIC awarding small banks credits for a portion of their assessment during the third and fourth quarters of 2019. The provision for losses and costs on foreclosed real estate increased $23,000 to $38,000 for the year ended December 31, 2019 from $15,000 for the year ended December 31, 2018. This increase was primarily due to the write-down in fair value of a foreclosed real estate property in the amount of $20,000 for the year ended December 31, 2019. Other operating expenses increased by $162,000, or 26.05%, to $784,000 for the year ended December 31, 2019 from $622,000 for the year ended December 31, 2018 due to several factors. Insurance costs increased $68,000 to $106,000 for the year ended December 31, 2019 from $38,000 for the year ended December 31, 2018 due to an increase in insurance premiums and coverages relating to our Company’s public company status as well as the payment of an insurance deductible associated with an email compromise that occurred during the fourth quarter of 2019 for which we have no further material financial exposure. Automated teller machine expenses increased by $13,000, or 10.92%, to $132,000 for the year ended December 31, 2019 from $119,000 for the year ended December 31, 2018 due to increased customer usage and costs associated with automated teller machines. Software maintenance costs increased by $34,000, or 89.47%, to $102,000 for the year ended December 31, 2019 from $68,000 for the year ended December 31, 2018 primarily due to the software necessary to provide information system technology enhancements.
Income Tax Expense. Income tax expense increased by $145,000, or 65.02%, to $368,000 for the year ended December 31, 2019 from $223,000 for the year ended December 31, 2018. The effective tax rate was 28.84% and 24.89% for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively. The increase in tax expense was the result of an increase in ourpre-tax income of $380,000, or 42.41%, to $1.3 million for the year ended December 31, 2019 from $896,000 for the year ended December 31, 2018, as well as an increase in the effective tax rate due to the reduction in nontaxable bank-owned life insurance income and the increase innon-deductible compensation expense relating to the ESOP and the 2019 Equity Incentive Plan.
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