Over the last few years, not many municipalities have been able to boast of budget surpluses. The District certainly hasn’t — just last year, the D.C. Council was forced to slash programs and raise taxes on the city’s wealthiest residents to cover a $322 million budget deficit.

But yesterday Mayor Vince Gray had something of an odd announcement — the city ended 2011 with a $240 million surplus, according to the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, a yearly audit of the District’s budget. Reported the Washington Business Journal’s Michael Neibauer:

D.C. collected $88 million more tax revenue in FY 2011 than it budgeted, according to the CAFR. City agencies underspent their budgets by $86.6 million and “other” revenue sources came in $64 million higher than projections. The total surplus: $238.86 million. The District’s fund balance now stands at $1.1 billion, up from $890 million at the close of fiscal 2010, as efforts to bolster the city’s reserves prove successful.

Amongst the tax revenues that spurred the surplus were income and franchise taxes, along with the death of a few well-heeled residents — to the tune of an extra $34 million in inheritance and estate taxes. “This excess was due to the death of wealthy District residents who had significantly enhanced their wealth positions in recent years,” said the audit.

There’s not much celebrating going on, though. Much of the money has already been set aside for savings, and what’s left — some $110 million — isn’t likely going to be used to restore social programs that were cut or roll back the tax hike on the wealthy. (If anything, it will help with spending pressures already being reported.) According to the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute, expected revenue shortfalls down the road mean that District officials don’t have much of a choice but to stash the money away.

That’s not making Councilmember Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) happy, though — according to the Post, Evans wants to use some of the surplus to scrap the tax increase on wealthy residents he so vehemently opposed last year.

UPDATE, 9:55 a.m.: D.C. Chamber of Commerce President Barbara Lang wants the tax increase rolled back also, she wrote in a blog post yesterday: “We call for Mayor Gray to exercise some fiscal responsibility, and refrain from spending any surplus, especially when the CFO has projected further shortfalls in revenue for fiscal year 2013 of over $100 million. However, we at the Chamber would go even further; it is our contention that rather than simply banking the money, it should be used to revoke the recent income tax increase placed on residents and the new business taxes put forth in the FY12 budget. It is time for the government to rein in spending instead of squeezing residents and businesses.”