"...we will be paying about $67,000 for government fees, permits, tests, and “mitigations”."

something tells me that this is not the entire story, are you building on a toxic dump site, in the middle of a fire prone forrest, in an earthquake or flood zone ?

In Mt. Shasta, Ca. it is $12,000-$15,000, which is not bad for a large house, but a deal breaker for a very small house. The town has some huge expenses in improving the sewer and storm drain systems.
In California, it is virtually impossible to raise property taxes, so new construction fees have to go up astronomically to pay for new infrastructure needs.