Carol Samuels

Carol Samuels is a managing director in public finance at Piper Sandler. She has worked with Oregon municipalities for over 35 years on financings of every type and description, traditional and non-traditional alike. She has emphasized working with school districts, cities, counties and special districts in meeting their financial needs.

Samuels has developed particular expertise in the Oregon pension (PERS) System and is often called upon to provide advice and education on the financial impact of the pension plan. She is active on local commissions and boards and has participated in panels charged with examining Oregon tax reform and the financing of education. Among such activities, she currently serves as the chair of the emerging issues committee of the Oregon Government Finance Officers’ Association and is a member of the League of Oregon Cities’ finance and tax committee and the Oregon Association of School Business Officials legislative committee. She was presented with the OGFOA Honorary Life Member Award in 2016 and the Outstanding Contribution to Public Finance award in 2002. Samuels is also a member of the Piper Sandler public finance advisory committee and serves on the firm’s diversity, equity and inclusion council.

During the 1997 Oregon legislative session, she served as the tax and finance lobbyist for the League of Oregon Cities, at which time she represented cities in the drafting of the property tax limitation measure 50. As such, she has a strong understanding of the property tax system and other financing options for local governments.

Prior to joining Piper Sandler, Samuels worked in the public finance departments of U.S. Bank in Portland and Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette in New York. She also worked as a financial analyst for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority in New York and as a lobbyist for the Governor of New Jersey in Washington, D.C.

Samuels received a Master of Business Administration degree from the Yale School of Management and a bachelor’s degree from Tufts University. She holds Series 7, 52 and 50 securities licenses.