Apparently, even Santa’s strapped for cash as Thanksgiving gives way to Christmas this year.

Instead of a twitch of the nose to stimulate the cash flow, Santa’s following the example of other big boys to raise extra cash by selling naming rights to a man with a plan to make everyone richer. You shouldn’t expect Kris Kringle to rename his ice-front property Frito Lay North Pole. But, for the next year, you can expect to encounter signs along Idaho’s Highway 3, 15 miles south of St. Maries, advising that you are entering or leaving Secretsanta.com, Idaho.

For a guarantee of at least $20,000, cash-strapped Santa, Idaho, has gone the way of Clark, Texas, and Halfway, Ore. On a unanimous vote of the Santa Water and Sewer District last week, the town of 150 redubbed itself Secretsanta.com to earn a few bucks by promoting a Web site involved in group gift exchange. The idea is the brainchild of marketing guru Mark Hughes of Philadelphia, the schmoozer who helped Halfway, Ore., cash in on a dot.com name change.

No one can blame Santa for grabbing the money and running rather than waiting to see if it can find money behind some future Door No. 2. Its water system doesn’t have pressure to fight fires. And there isn’t enough tax revenue for the district to upgrade the system. A name alteration for a year won’t hurt anything, particularly since it doesn’t involve changing the name at the post office, where the postmaster still fields Christmas wish lists from children.

However, this crass trend to rename towns to push products or corporations shouldn’t be dismissed with a hearty ho-ho-ho.

Earlier this month, residents of Clark, Texas, opted to embrace the name DISH to take advantage of free satellite television service for 10 years offered by EchoStar Communications Corp.’s DISH Network. Halfway received $75,000 and 20 classroom computers to rename itself after Internet retailer Half.com for a year.

Promoters are targeting small communities like Santa, Clark and Halfway, and apparently the residents see little harm or foul. But this trend could get out of hand.

What if, for example, Avista were to approach Post Falls officials with an offer of a major rate break to name its town after the utility and the nearby dam?

Imagine the confusion and annoyance of address changes that would be faced by residents of the new Avista Dam Falls, Idaho.

Entrepreneur Bob Templin would have to go back to the drawing board in his never-ending attempt to put his community on the map as a resort destination. Frederick Post would lose his spot in history as the founder of a town that no longer bears his name. Reunions would be disconcerting as alumni swapped memories of shared childhoods at erstwhile Post Falls High.

In most communities, there’s too much history and emotion wrapped up in their name to change it willy-nilly. On the other hand, this worry might be as remote as a substantial power rate decrease.