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The District government reported a total surplus of $417 million for the 2012 fiscal year, city officials said today. The excess revenue will be added to D.C.’s emergency fund, bringing the city’s “rainy-day” savings to nearly $1.5 billion.

Of the surplus, $266 million came from additional revenue on sources including income and property taxes and expanded traffic fees. An additional $117 came from funds allocated to various D.C. agencies that went unused last year. The remaining $34 million came from other budget adjustments made during the fiscal year.

But despite the clamors of progressive activists and other groups who are calling on the District government to use the surplus to finance programs such as affordable housing and other poverty-fighting measures, Mayor Vince Gray will put every cent into the emergency fund. The move is required under a 2010 law Gray shepherded while serving as D.C. Council chairman that compels the District to invest any budget surpluses into the general fund until it has built up a two-month cash supply. With the money from fiscal 2012, officials said the District is now $286.2 million away from hitting that ceiling.

“Cash flow reserve will allow you to borrow from the market and borrow when rates are advantageous,” one official said during a briefing with reporters.

With the exception of property taxes, which came in at $14 million less than projected, the city’s revenue was greater than expected in all categories last year, including a $27 million surplus from traffic fines, and $68 million more from sales taxes. Estate tax revenue was $53 million greater than expected, with $50 million of that sum coming from collections on one deceased individual’s wealth. Multiple city officials said they were not permitted to identify the deceased person.

Among agencies that spent less than what they were allocated in fiscal 2012, for instance, the Department of Health Care Finance came in $6 million under budget and the city’s funding of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Agency finished with $4 million left over.

“There is always going to be underspending,” another official said. “If we don’t, the control board is going to come back.” The District’s finances were run by a federally appointed commission between 1995 and 2001 after a sustained period of budget deficits.

Building up cash reserves is important for maintaining the city’s credit rating, though the District’s government debt per capita is greater than any state’s. Gray and other officials will travel to New York in late February to visit with the three credit-rating agencies in hopes of maintaining or improving D.C.’s borrowing ability.

In the mean time, officials in the briefing and at a subsequent press conference stressed the $417 million surplus will not be used for any “wish list” items offered by councilmembers or civic activists. The Council’s wish list only would have applied to any revenue projections reported last September or December; the surplus has since been added to the general fund. Officials did say, though, that Gray intends to announce increased spending on housing, public safety, and workforce programs at his State of the District address next week.