The costs of Mountain View's experiment with rent control now has a clear price tag -- about $160 annually for each apartment in town.

At a meeting scheduled for Monday, Oct. 9, the city's Rental Housing Committee will take its first look at a proposed $2.5 million budget for launching the citywide rent control program.

The budget will be brought back to the committee for final approval on Oct. 23.

Mountain View's new rent control program is at its most labor-intensive stage. The city's five-member Rental Housing Committee is dealing with a series of complex and consequential decisions as it establishes the policy groundwork for citywide rent control. Given the stakes, routine committee meetings feature a panel of three attorneys and a team of housing staff, none of whom are working for free.

Designed to run independently of city government, the rent control program eventually must pay for its own staffing, office equipment and material costs. For the new fiscal year, city officials are budgeting for four new full-time office positions, including a program manager, a clerical assistant and two analysts. The rental committee will need to eventually hire what may be its most important staffer -- a hearing officer who will adjudicate disputes between landlords and tenants. This position is expected to be filled by a retired judge or arbitrator, who could charge as much as $1,250 per case.