Texas Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board approves $15,500 MOU payment, adopts FY26 budget and backs new practicum approval process

The Texas Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board on the morning of its meeting approved a $15,500 administrative cost allocation to a long-standing memorandum of understanding with the Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC), adopted the board’s fiscal year 2026 budget and related financial policies, and directed staff to develop a state approval process for practicum providers and courses intended to help aspiring appraisers satisfy experience requirements.

The board said the $15,500 payment — described by staff as a ‘‘general administrative cost allocation’’ meant to offset shared services such as communications, human resources and finance that TREC currently covers — will be recorded in the MOU’s exhibit and leave the board’s FY26 bottom-line unchanged. Board members approved the MOU amendment and the allocation by voice vote.

Executive Director Chelsea Buckholz told the board the agencies are still implementing a new license-management system the staff is calling the Realm portal and that the project is delayed by a data conversion and integration work. “Data conversion is really what is holding us up as of now,” Buckholz said. She said the board is testing a mock conversion and integrating the new portal with external systems including fingerprinting, education and exam vendors, and remains “extremely hopeful about a go live later this year.”

Why it matters: The MOU change and the budget move are linked: staff said shifting staff percentage allocations reduces certain payroll costs but the $15,500 payment will function as a good-faith contribution to general administrative services provided by TREC without increasing the board’s projected expenditures for FY26. The board’s action preserves its projected reserves and supports continuing shared-service arrangements while the agencies await longer-term budget decisions at TREC.

Budget details and board action

Chief Finan…