The City of Prior Lake will be saying goodbye to Cathy Erickson, Finance Director, who is retiring at the end of August. Erickson has held a variety of positions with the city’s Finance Department since she was hired in 2013. Erickson was hired as the Accounting Manager and was promoted to the Finance Director position in 2017.

During her tenure, Erickson led several initiatives that improved the city’s financial stability and operational efficiency. Some of her accomplishments include developing a long-range financial model, creating funding strategies for equipment replacement to reduce debt, and implementing new utility rate and franchise fee structures to support city infrastructure costs. Because of these efforts, the city earned the highest financial rating (AAA) from Standard & Poor’s for the first time in 2023 and every year since. 

Jason Wedel, City Manager, expressed appreciation for Erickson’s leadership. “We are grateful for Cathy’s years of dedicated service to the community. The city is in a better place financially than it has ever been and this is largely due to Cathy’s good work.”

Erickson, resident of Prior Lake, plans to spend more time traveling, including visiting family in Upper Michigan and Utah.

Nicole Klekner, Assistant Finance Director, will serve as Interim Finance Director starting September 1, 2025.