Garden City ? Garden City officials are challenging the 2010 census count for their city.

City Planner Sam Henderson says the city has submitted a challenge U.S. Census Bureau. The federal agency said in June that Garden City lost 6.3 percent of its population between 2000 and 2010, dropping from 28,000 to 26,658 residents.

The Garden City Telegram reports that city officials believe the true population is between 28,000 and 30,300.

City officials say getting the numbers correct is important because it determines the city’s eligibility for federal funds.

Henderson says an analysis of census data found several areas that city officials believe were incorrectly counted in last year’s census.