Kris, back to the garbage hauling/sewage issue...wow, your bit of NJ seems to be in the dark ages! When we lived in Corvallis, OR we were charged PER container (the standard big ones, until they switched to their own wheeled bins for mechanized pick-up). That was over 10 years ago. Here in Toronto, they've just introduced a new system with various sizes of wheeled bins. The smallest one is "free" (with a small rebate on your taxes, actually) but only holds one garbage bag - perfect for someone living on their own, but perhaps not quite big enough for a family of 4. We got the next one up - it's $39 for the year and holds a bit more. I had originally ordered the small one in the belief that the city would be recycling absolutely ALL plastic and styrofoam by the time the new system was in place, but had to change our order when I found out that they hadn't got those contracts in place yet. Our recycling here, combined with the composting program, is excellent - almost all of our garbage is plastic packaging of the sort not currently recyclable (bags, polystyrene, styrofoam).
Everywhere I've lived, the sewage charges were determined by the metered water charges; use more water, and the assumption is that the sewage use is roughly parallel. Of course, this doesn't necessarily work if your major use is watering your lawn, but is generally much fairer than a flat rate! In North Andover, you could also get a bypass meter installed, which would measure the amount being used for irrigation and not include that amount in your sewer bill.
Sharing internet services with neighbors, though I'm sure it's fairly widespread, is expressly forbidden in any cable company contract I've seen. Of course, it was a whole heck of a lot easier to catch people before wireless came along - the best they can do now is complain that you have an open network and there is NO law against that! (Of course, if you are collecting fees from your neighbors and they can prove that, that might be a different story)
