Use it or lose it. We’ve all heard that before.

But applied to Gov. Tom Wolf’s budget proposal to reduce property taxes statewide by $3.8 billion, the familiar axiom should be turned around: Lose it or use it.

The governor’s proposal sounds like welcome news to homeowners, many of them retirees on fixed incomes who struggle with annual increases in their school, municipal and county tax increases. Wolf’s plan translates to about $1,000 a year in relief to the average homeowner.

However, at least one Republican state legislator is sounding the alarm that the property tax cut might be only temporary.

In a statement, state Sen. David Argall called the proposal a “bait and switch” tactic employed by a tax-and-spend governor.

“He’s talking about a permanent increase in income taxes, a permanent increase in sales tax, but only a temporary decrease in property taxes,” said Argall of Schuylkill County.

Here’s Argall’s concern: The governor proposes permanent increases in the state personal income and sales tax rates to cover a corresponding reduction in property taxes. But there’s nothing stopping school districts and municipal governments from increasing the property tax rates in the future.

Argall suspects it will be only a matter time before Pennsylvania homeowners begin to see their property taxes creeping upward again — only by then they will have to contend with higher income and sales taxes, too. The net result would be record-high sales and personal income tax rates on top of steadily rising property taxes.

There’s precedence to support Argall’s concern: Former Gov. Ed Rendell pushed hard for casinos in Pennsylvania, promising tax relief for senior citizen homeowners from the gambling tax proceeds. Yet despite a casino tax rate of 55 percent, Pennsylvania seniors have seen little of the promised relief.

Argall and other critics of Wolf’s proposal predict more of the same. But there’s a simple solution: abolish the property tax altogether.

In fact, Argall already has proposed income and property tax hikes similar to the governor’s — although Argall would kill off the property tax while Wolf would merely merely reduce it.

Considering that the school property tax is an archaic system, established in the 1830s when an overwhelming majority of Pennsylvanians lived in their own homes, stopping the continual rise of property tax rates would protect retired homeowners on fixed incomes; would encourage younger families to buy homes; and would more fairly distribute the local tax burden, particularly for public education.

An elimination of the property tax also would put focus back where it belongs: on the runaway expense of uncovered pension obligations. Combined, the unfunded liabilities for the State Employees Retirement System and the Public School Employees’ Retirement System could amount to $65 billion by 2021.

Wolf did not say much about pensions during his budget address. That’s unfortunate. The pension crisis has become the 800-pound gorilla in the room. No tax reform plan will work if we continue to ignore these massive unfunded liabilities.

And abolishing the property tax altogether would remove a temptation to try.