| Since July 1, 2016: | FY 2016-17The Title 298 rewrite project, begun 3 years prior, incorporated three separate law updates, established cohesiveness with the Real Property Appraiser Act and AMC Registration Act, and incorporated a structure change to be more procedural and easier to follow. Staff reached full strength for the first time in a while, increasing both the long-term and short-term efficiency and effectiveness of the Board and its staff.A couple complex investigative matters were resolved, which allowed the staff to get caught up on the backlog of investigations.The Appraisal Subcommittee audit in March included the fewest issues found in quite a few years. The Director has been working to resolve many ASC audit issues since starting in 2012. The newsletter has been issued for an entire year, and the feedback from the appraiser community has been positive.The Boards relationship with the University of Nebraska at Omaha was re-established at the beginning of the fiscal year, which has proven to be beneficial to both sides. Because of this, UNO pursued and was granted AQB approval for its real estate program. Also, the Director had the opportunity to discuss the appraiser profession and the credentialing process with some of the programs students. FY 2017-18The Real Property Appraiser Act was updated to recognize the latest edition of USPAP, and to remove many of the burdensome continuing education requirements. The AMC Registration Act was updated to incorporate the needed changes to implement the AMC Final Rule (federal requirements). The Board continued to build its relationship with the University of Nebraska at Omaha. This relationship has proven to be beneficial for the success of the Universitys Real Estate program and for the Boards mission to increase opportunities to enter the appraiser profession. Currently, the Board is working to allow for individual approval of qualifying education activities at UNO. This would allow students to obtain trainee status as they complete the program. The compliance procedures were updated to streamline the initial review process. Now the Board receives the grievance, supporting documentation, the respondents response, and the respondents report and workfile. The additional information received allows the Board to dismiss a grievance prior to investigation if there is no evidence of a violation. This relieves the stress of the respondent, and saves the Board investigative costs for an investigation that would be dismissed anyway. The temporary credential procedures have been updated to incorporate the temporary credential information into the approval letter for increased efficiency.The new education numbering system has been developed and implemented. The new numbers provide very important information to staff during review of continuing education submitted with appraiser renewal applications. FY 2018-19LB77 was passed by the Legislature, which included a major law change that opens the door a bit more for future appraisers by reducing requirements and allowing online qualifying education.Title 298 was updated to address previous law changes and issues faced by the Board. This update also included the ability for colleges and universities with AQB approved degree programs to apply to have each course approved as qualifying education individually. This would allow students in an AQB approved degree program apply to become an Trainee Real Property Appraiser while still in school, which will allow the student to begin working in the industry and obtaining appraisal experience before their degree is finished. The Board received excellent ratings from the Appraisal Subcommittee for both its Appraiser Program and its AMC Program. The excellent rating is the Boards first for its Appraiser Program under the current rating system. At the time, Nebraska was the only state to receive an excellent rating for its AMC Program. The Board and staff quickly coordinated the development of the Appraiser Online Renewal Application with Electronic Funds Transfer project and secured funding.Critical funding was obtained for the 2019-2021 Biennium as requested, which includes additional funding for the above mentioned database project. The Board completed an overhaul of its Compliance Program and personnel, which has resulted in a more efficient investigative process. The Compliance Executive Officer position was reclassified to an administrative assistant position, and the Director assumed the lead investigator duties. Staff completed all tasks assigned during the 2018 strategic planning meeting.Major progress was made in the transfer of physical files to electronic files. The office relocation was completed in a seamless manner with no effect on the public. FY 2019-20The Investigation Interface in the NRPAB Database was completed and now is in use. This interface allows staff to carryout all record keeping functions of an investigation in one place in the database, which increases the Boards efficiency and effectiveness. The Education Submission Portal went into use. This portal allows all Nebraska real property appraisers to submit continuing education activities at any time during the year. This portal also feeds into the Education Interface in the NRPAB Database, which is used by staff to review and approve continuing education submissions. The Education Submission Portal greatly reduces the staffs workload during heavy renewal season volume, and increases the efficiency and accuracy of the continuing education record keeping process.The Board developed procedures to allow approval of online continuing education completed by Nebraska credentialed appraisers that reside out of state for education courses not directly approved by the Board. The Board implemented the following changes for FY 20 to address the challenges of the Covid-19 Pandemic:oThe Board implemented an essential staffing operating procedure. Staffing levels were maintained in the NRPAB office as needed to carry out essential business only, and to maintain public availability. All of the Board's files and programs could be accessed remotely, so there was no drop off of service to the public or savings andor additional costs due to this operational change.oThe Board held meetings every other month, and utilized telecommunication as authorized by Governor Ricketts's Executive Order 20-03 and 20-24. This was implemented to provide safety to the Board's more at-risk members because of age or travel distance. oReal property appraiser, appraisal management company, and education applications typically approved by the Board, in which no board member judgment or expertise was required (approval granted based on minimum standards being met), were approved by the Director. This operational change was implemented to maintain progress for those applying for credentialing or registration, and to continue growing the appraiser profession at a time when the availability of additional real property appraisers is needed due to market demand. This change also allowed the Board to focus on the most important issues during its meetings, including its Covid-19 response, and credentialing and registration applications that required review with board member expertise. There were no cost savings andor additional costs.The APA completed an audit of the Board's finances in March and April of 2020, for the period July 1, 2018, through December 31, 2019. The Board receives direct feedback from the APA regarding the performance of the Board's accounting practices and procedures. The APA listed no material issues or deficiencies in the April 15, 2020 Attestation Report.The Federal Bureau of Investigation completed a review of the Boards Criminal History Record Check program in conjunction with its audit of the Nebraska State Patrol. The FBI found no issues with the Boards program. |