The deal’s already done.

Cambridge Healthcare Solutions already has its contract with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to build and manage the new VA Butler Healthcare complex in Center Township.

The contract is for $163 million over 20 years, making it likely the largest government contract in Butler County history.

On Monday, representatives from Cambridge Healthcare Solutions asked the Butler school board for tax increment financing for its 46-acre construction site, and for an adjacent 100 acres that Cambridge has an option to buy and develop.

Cambridge suggested a 20-year TIF with an 80 percent reduction in taxes. The amount of that reduction would go toward development of various infrastructure for the 750,000 square feet of potential development space. With a current property tax rate of 94.8 mills, Cambridge is seeking an annual tax break of about $467,000 from the school district, Center Township and Butler County combined.

The board took no action on the request. And it shouldn’t — ever.

Cambridge, of Vienna, Va., is a huge developer of commercial real estate with a vast store of wealth and other resources.

According to its own website, Cambridge has successfully developed more than 6.2 million square feet of commercial real estate since 1983. It has structured the acquisition and disposition of more than 20 million square feet of commercial real estate and 465 acres with a total value exceeding $6.2 billion. Cambridge has been instrumental in the restructure of about $1.5 billion of commercial mortgage-backed securities and institutional debt on behalf of clients and partners.

By contrast, Butler School District just underwent a painful consolidation that closed four elementary school buildings. It has no budgetary reserves. An aging population, already faced with ever-rising property taxes, can ill afford to cut a tax break for a corporation widely regarded as one of the biggest and largest builders in the country.

Why should any of the local government entities give a tax break for the VA hospital project? Where’s the incentive to modify a deal that’s already in place?

Keep in mind that the first attempt at the VA project resulted in the destruction of Deshon Woods in Butler Township. We now are stuck with a wasteland where a pristine public park once stood.

Board members had reservations about granting an abatement on the promise of more jobs.

“Before I would vote to give away 80 percent of our taxes, I’d have to have a whole lot more than a maybe or a probably,” said Bill Halle. “We’ve given out taxes before, and they haven’t worked out the way they said.”

By seeking a tax break, Cambridge is trying to sweeten a deal that’s already in place. Cambridge is committed to it, and the VA hospital will be built with or without the abatement. The $163 million in federal tax dollars it’s getting from the VA should be enough.

One final note: It’s interesting that several Center Township officials attended the Butler School Board meeting to speak in support of the tax break. The Center supervisors haven’t yet discussed the Cambridge tax abatement in a public meeting — not in any official capacity, anyway.