Carol (C.D.) Polumbo is a partner in the Austin office and previously served as the firm’s managing partner from 2013-2021. Carol has over 30 years of experience in public finance.
Carol has served as bond counsel on several innovative financings, including: privatized student housing for Texas State University System; the Dell Diamond Convention Center/Multi-Purpose Facility for the City of Round Rock, Texas; the Cedar Park Event Center; the San Marcos Conference Center; and the $5 billion Texas Transportation Commission Mobility Fund Bonds.
She also served as bond counsel for the $2.2 billion Texas Turnpike Authority Central Texas Turnpike System financing for the SH 45, SH 130 and Loop 1 toll roads.
Additionally, Carol served as bond counsel in connection with the State of Texas’ first transportation private activity bonds issued in connection with long-term public private toll road concession agreements for the North Tarrant Express and LBJ projects in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. The LBJ project was recognized as North American PPP transaction of the year from Infrastructure Investor and North American Project Bond Deal of the Year 2010 by Euromoney Project Finance.
Before joining McCall, Carol worked as the Assistant Chief of the Public Finance Section of the Texas Attorney General’s Office, where she was responsible for reviewing and approving all types of governmental obligations issued in the State as well as serving as counsel for several state agencies responsible for issuing bonds. She began her career in 1985 as an associate attorney with Reynolds, White, Allen & Cook in Houston before working for the Texas Attorney General’s Office.
Highlights & Notable Transactions
- In excess of 1,300 transactions worked on at McCall totaling over $20 billion
- Representative clients include: cities, counties, water districts (including municipal utility districts, water control and improvement districts), other special development districts (road districts and tax increment financing districts), state agencies and higher education
- Lead Attorney for the firm with Texas Transportation Commission/Texas Department of Transportation and the Texas Public Finance Authority
- Worked on all public private toll concession transactions in Texas to date, including the first ever in the State and the latest 288 Managed Lanes project in Harris County in 2016
- Assisted in drafting legislation that enabled cities and counties to issue pass-through toll bonds (payable from contractual payments from TxDOT) to speed up financing, construction and delivery of segments of the state highway system within Williamson County and the cities of Temple, Killeen and San Marcos with latest issuance in 2013/2014
- $2.9 billion Grand Parkway financing for the Texas Transportation Commission to finance 5 segments (55 miles of approximately 184 miles) of the Grand Parkway Project which, when completed, will be an outer loop around the Houston metropolitan area
Professional & Community Affiliations
Member, State Bar of Texas
Member, National Association of Bond Lawyers
Regular Fellow, American College of Bond Counsel
Former Co-Chair, Texas Bond Buyer Conference (2014, 2016)
Chair, Downtown Austin Alliance
Member, Longhorn Foundation Advisory Council
Member, Leadership Team Republic Square Park
Member, Steering Committee, Downtown Vision and Action Plan
Articles & Speeches
Presented at various conferences including GFOA; GFOAT; Texas Association of City Attorneys; Securities law presentation for state agencies sponsored by Texas Bond Review Board and Comptroller of Public Accounts; CLE International Alternative Delivery Public Infrastructure
EDUCATION
South Texas College of Law, J.D., 1985 (summa cum laude; first in her class; Executive Editor, Law Review; South Texas College of Law Alumni Association Award for the Best Article Submitted to the Law Journal; E.E. Townes Memorial Award for Best Article in the Field of Construction Law from South Texas Law Journal; Order of the Lytae)
The University of Texas at Tyler, M.A., 1980 (summa cum laude)
The University of Texas at Austin, B.A., 1979
Tyler Junior College, Associate Degree, 1977
RECOGNITIONS & AWARDS
Martindale-Hubbell® AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rated (2017)